The Ground Below Her
by AaleXxXandrA
Summary: How much can you still influence in one person's life when you've been missing for more than 10 years? Ratin' T for bad language.
1. When Everything Started

**Author's Note: **So I'm starting a new story here because just like Se7en this idea has been in my head bugging me for quite a while. So…let's just hope I'm constant in this one. Sorry I couldn't come up with a title. I'll be thinking of one as I write the story.

**Summary: **How much can you still affect one person's life when you've been missing for more than 10 years?

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**The Ground Below Her**

**1. When Everything Started**

"Sir you can't go in there!"

"Excuse me sir but you can't run around a hospital!"

"Someone call security!"

"Sir! We can't let you in the room!" A male figure that was currently wearing white pale green scrubs stood in front of a small and white door which led to a hospital room. He stood in front of the door preventing the man who had just burst into the hospital take another step forward. Some nurses were watching a few steps from his left and they were clearly debating the idea if they should or should not call for security. The doctor looked over at them and nodded, even though he clearly had the situation controlled, he would feel safer if they could call up security. One of them nodded back and left for the desk where she picked up the phone and spoke in a whisper.

"But it's important that I see-"

"Sir, we can't let you get any closer to the patient. She's in critical conditions right now. We have strict order of not letting anyone in. Unless you are one of her family members?" the doctor asked hopefully never relaxing his body completely, since he didn't know what the person in front of him was capable of doing. Where was security anyways? They should have been here by now.

The guy in front of him stopped for a moment and meditated. It seemed like he was trying to come up with a good story line, but he's simple answer shocked the doctor. "No. I…I was-I'm a friend of hers."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "You mean a friend of her father." He corrected.

"No." the guy in front of him replied impatiently. "I was her childhood friend."

The doctor raised even more his eyebrow. How can a 30 year old man be a childhood friend of a 17 year old girl? He didn't like what the back of his mind was telling him. "I see. Would you care to come with me for a second?" he said stepping away from the door slightly and walking down the aisle.

He turned around and doubted for a second, wondering if his decision of walking away from the door had been a bad idea, since now the man who had stood in front of him had free access to the room, but relaxed when he saw him looking at the door for a second before deciding to follow him after all. Apparently his visit would have to wait a few minutes.

"So what did you two have exactly?" the doctor who had been kind enough to introduce himself as Dr. Shawn Kidder sitting on his office chair behind an extremely organized desk.

"Like I said before we were- we are childhood friends." The man said looking over at the doctor impatiently. Why was it so hard to believe? He didn't really have time for this right now.

"I see. Well you must excuse me Sir…?"

"Kamiya. Taichi Kamiya." The man said handing over his identification to Dr. Shawn Kidder, who took it and examined it curiously.

"Oh!" Dr. Shawn Kidder said suddenly as if some kind of idea had just popped in his head. "I knew I had seen your face before. You are that Taichi Kamiya. You are the DigitalWorld's ambassador, am I right?"

Taichi looked at the doctor impatiently. He really didn't have time for this right now, but he despite his impatiens, he forced a smiled and extended his hand for the doctor to shake. Maybe if he won his trust they would let him see her. "Yes that's right."

"May I say that your conference about how the humans and the Digimon can come to an agreement that can benefit both parties was more than impressive? I had the pleasure to be part of the audience and let me tell you…wow." Dr. Shawn Kidder said. It was more than clear that he was a fan of his. Maybe this wasn't as bad as Tai thought.

Tai considered the idea of standing up from his seat, knocking out the doctor with a punch on the face and running to her room, but end up fake smiling modestly and thanking the doctor. "So about you patient…" Tai started gently tying to not make it seem like he was desperate to see her.

"Oh yes." Dr. Shawn Kidder said handling Tai back his ID. "Well you see. We have strict instructions from our superiors as to not let anyone see unless they are off cores family. I'm sorry to say this Mr. Kamiya but unless you can show us that you somehow related to one of her closest family members or you have a written permission from her parents we can't let you see her at the moment. I hope you understand."

"But do you even know who she is?" Tai asked, regretting ever word he said after he had heard it.

Dr. Shawn Kidder raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Tai started trying to explain his words better but not letting the fully know his purpose. "Do you know her name or her age? Or even who are her biological parents?"

Dr. Shawn Kidder looked a little surprised. _'How did he found out?' _"I'm sorry Mr. Kamiya but that's confidential information regarding the patient. I, as a professional, cannot reveal that information to someone who's not blood related. You understand."

Tai was losing it. "How do you know?" Tai threatened standing up from his seat and hitting the desk with his hands. "I bet you don't even know who she is."

"And you do?" Dr. Shawn Kidder asked looking calmly over at Tai. "I remind you Mr. Kamiya that this is a hospital, and it doesn't matter how famous or powerful you are, I can kick you out if I feel that you are a threat to our patients. The laws here are different from the ones outside these walls."

Tai looked over at the doctor forcing his body to relax a bit. "I bet you don't even know her age-"

"She's 17 years old." Dr. Shawn Kidder said looking over at Tai.

Tai smiled. "Yes, but what year was she born in?" he asked the doctor, taking him by surprise.

"Mr. Kamiya," Dr. Shawn Kidder said losing his patients and standing to face Tai. "We are not letting you see her. She's in crit-"

"Critical conditions, I know." Tai said running his fingers through his hair. "But it's for her own good you see."

Dr. Shawn Kidder raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "She…she has no family left." Tai said choosing is words carefully. He didn't want to tell the doctor the truth about her. "It's really important that you let me see her. I'll pay for her hospital bill and take care of her when she gets out of here. I'm planning on becoming her legal tutor until she turns 18, but I must speak with her first and explain some things."

"What kind of things? And what do you mean she has no family left? She was screaming to see her mother the last time she woke up." Dr. Shawn Kidder said looking over at Taichi. He didn't really like what the current situation of this girl was. If she had no family left, then what was he supposed to do about it? He couldn't just let her go around by herself. He would definitely have to talk about it with the chief later on.

"She…hit her head really hard on her accident you see." Tai lied the best he could. He couldn't tell him the truth, they would think he was crazy, and that was the last think he wanted them to think of him. "She doesn't know that her mother is…well _dead_."

Dr. Shawn Kidder looked over at him. "And how would you know such things Mr. Kamiya?"

Tai was getting impatient and said the first thing that came into mind. "Because I was near when the accident took place. She was one of my friends back when I was in high school and she was still in primary. We used to play soccer together and I used to be her tutor in some classes."

Dr. Shawn Kidder seemed to buy these. "So that's what you mean by childhood friend." He nodded looking over at the situation. "Well Mr. Kamiya, we must check the fact that she has no living relatives left. If what you say is true then well ask her about you, if her reactions are positive then we'll have to ask you to get a tutoring permission from a judge that clearly states that you will become her tutor. When you get that done and she feels better, we'll let you take her home with you." Dr. Shawn Kidder finished sitting down and writing something on some papers.

"Ok." Tai agreed. "So that means I can see her?"

"No." Dr. Shawn Kidder said looking at Tai. "Like I said before Mr. Kamiya unless you are one of her relatives or her legal tutor we can't let anyone see her at the moment."

Tai narrowed his eyes to the doctor and clanged his fist, but controlled his impulse of punching him square on the face. "I see," Tai muttered. "When will I be able to see her then?"

"Like I said we still have to ask her-"

"I _know_ what you said. I mean how long is all that going to take?" Tai interrupted Dr. Shawn Kidder before he could start another of his boring speeches.

"Well," Dr. Shawn Kidder started pausing for a bit which did not help Tai's patients. "I'd say 2 or 3 weeks. You can leave your cell phone number and we'll inform you if there are any further changes."

Tai nodded writing on a piece of paper both his cell phones numbers and his apartment number just in case. He wouldn't wait for them to call obviously. He had plan of his own.

"Ok Mr. Kamiya it was such a great pleasure to meet you. Well be sure to call you if her state changes or if we find any of her relatives." Dr. Shawn Kidder said shaking Tai's hand.

Tai nodded excusing himself and starting to walk over to the door preparing to leave.

"Oh one more thing Mr. Kamiya. Since we can't seem to find any of her fingerprints on our data base and she had no wallet or ID when the ambulance brought her in," Dr. Shawn Kidder said looking up from his papers. Tai looked at him waiting for him to continue. "We were kind of hoping that since you seem to have known her for a while now, you would tell us her name?"

Tai turned around slowly looking at the doctor in the eyes. "Her name…" Tai said, thinking some things over. "Takenouchi. Sora Takenouchi."

Without further do, Tai left the room, not looking back.

* * *

**Author's Note: **That's it folks. I'll update as soon as I can.


	2. Scars We Don't Want to Stich

**Author's Note: **So you'll be happy to know that I finally came with a title to this story. I don't know if it will have anything to do with the story itself, but I just thought it was kind of poetic and stuck with it. Anyways! Here's chapter 2, I hope I can keep you as interested as you guys were in the first chapter.

**

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**The Ground Below Her**

**2. Scars We Don't Want to Stich**

Dr. Shawn Kidder looked at Tai skeptically. Raising his eyebrow he opened his mouth to talk but couldn't find the right words that would mirror his thoughts. He looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand and re-read what it had written.

Tai looked at Dr. Shawn Kidder. He smiled nervously when he the doctor looked up at him. What else was he supposed to do? It's not like he could tell him the truth about his intentions, they would never believe him. He forced himself to relax and trust that whatever his lawyer had written on that paper was convincing enough to fool Dr. Shawn Kidder.

"_Why are you so interested in this girl in particular?" Hibiki his college friend and current lawyer had asked him the day they had finally discussed Tai's request. _

"_I thought that you lawyers weren't supposed to ask personal questions. This business only." Tai said crossing his arms over his chest. _

_Hibiki looked over his glasses. "Tai, we've know each other since the start o__f college. I can't say I know you _know_ you but I know when you are thinking about something that's going to get us in trouble." He put the paper down on his desk. "Now either you tell me what's going on or you find yourself another lawyer."_

Dr. Shawn Kidder looked up from the paper once more sighing. "Mr. Kamiya-"

"Please call me Tai. I hate it when people call me Mr. Kamiya."

"_Tai_," Dr. Shawn Kidder corrected himself. "Why are you so interested it this girl in particular?"

Tai smirked inwardly wondering if the Dr. Kidder had talked to his friend Hibiki before this meeting.

"I told you already," Tai said trying his best to keeps his cool. If anyone else asked him the same question one more time we swore he would- "We were childhood friends and she doesn't have anyone else. I think it's my responsibility as her _friend_ to take care of her."

Dr. Shawn Kidder put down the paper on the desk leaned on his elbows looking sternly at Tai. "Mr. Kamiya, it's _impossible_ for her to have no family what so ever. There must be a mother or father in the picture-"

"Her mother died when she was 16 in a car accident. Her mother died while having her and her father died a few years after that of cancer. She had no relatives that she knew of and no siblings in the picture." Tai explained, keeping his eyes on Dr. Shawn Kidder letting him know that he wasn't lying.

Dr. Shawn Kidder raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "O…k, what about her father? There must be one that we could contact-"

"NO!" Tai screamed startling Dr. Shawn Kidder who sat back on his chair. Tai blushed slightly realizing what he had just done. He cleared his throat and continued. "Her father was killed in jail when she was 6. Neither she nor her mother knew about his past and I'm pretty sure that he was abandoned on the streets when he was a few months old. He was an orphan from early age so no parents or siblings in the picture either."

Dr. Shawn Kidder opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Tai. "Don't you see that I'm the only one that can take care of her at the moment?"

"_Ok fine," Hibiki said taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose sighing in defeat. "What do you want me to do?"_

_Tai smiled. "Listen I need to know you to research her past. Where did she study? Who were her friends? What schedule did she have when she was still in school? Research her mother's past too. Does she have any siblings? What happened to parents? Anything you can find is good. Also, after you are done with that, focus on her father. I need to know everything you find about him." Tai said writing it on a piece of paper. _

"Mr. Kamiya," Dr. Shawn Kidder sighed once more. "I understand that you want to help her and it's really nice of you to offer her all your unconditional support; but we can't let you take her home with you unless we have a judge's approval of you as her legal guardian. Until then we have the duty of taking her case to a judge-"

"There's no need for that." Tai raised his left hand interrupting Dr. Shawn Kidder. "I took the liberty to explain her current situation to my lawyer and my wish of becoming her legal guardian." Tai opened his suit case taking a pile of papers out and giving them to Dr. Shawn Kidder. "As you can see the supreme court has given _me _her parental guardianship. **(1)**"

Dr. Shawn Kidder took the papers checking them over making sure that they weren't any tricks in this. He still was having a hard time believing Tai's story about the girl's parents. I mean it _could_ be possible but he just wondered where Tai got such specific information. He needed to confirm that this order was real. "Excuse me Mr. Kamiya, but I have to make a call. Could you wait here for a few minutes?"

Tai smirked knowing very well where Dr. Shawn Kidder was heading to. He was about to make sure that the judge's order in his hand was legit. Obviously he had no problem with that. "Yes off cores. Take all the time you need."

Dr. Shawn Kidder excused himself getting up from his desk and walking out the door not wanting to let this Tai person know that he was about to call one of his good friends, head judge of the Supreme Court **(2)**.

Tai sighed watching as Dr. Shawn Kidder offices door closed behind him. It was really getting annoying answering all those questions. Why couldn't he just let go off the subject and let he see her? It wasn't like he was going to kill her or something, he just want to make sure that it was _her._ It really had been so long since he last saw her and he had so many questions.

"_Ok so here's what I've got about her." Hibiki said putting a big pile of papers of his desk. "Here's what I got about her mother." He said putting an even bigger pile of papers on his desk. "And here's what I found about her father." Hibiki finished handling Tai a lone piece of paper. _

_Tai raised his eyebrow. "This is it?" he asked looking down at the paper that had merely four paragraphs written on it. _

_Hibiki sighed. "What do you want me to do Taichi? That's all I found. All we know is that he was abandoned as a child by a mother who had more money than heart, he was found by the owner of Jubliee Hubei Orphanage that took care of him till he was 18, got married when he was 25, went to jail and got killed a few months before his release." Hibiki looked at Tai who was reading the paper. "We don't really have much information about her mother since she changed her name a few months after she abandoned her child. We do know that she used to be Benika Katō, but after September 8, 1978 its like earth swallowed her. No one knows about her current location." _

_Tai nodded satisfied with the information. "I need you to do one more thing for me Hibiki." _

"I see." Dr. Shawn Kidder sighed into the phone. "No it's nothing really."

"_Oh come on Shawn, we've known each other since we were kids. You can't hide this from me."_

"It's just that Tai Kamiya has been really interested in this girl in particular, and I've been having a weird feeling about it-"

"_Wait did you just say Tai Kamiya? As in Taichi Kamiya?"_

Dr. Shawn Kidder raised an eyebrow. "Yes do you know him?"

There was a pause_. "Umm…well only from the news. I just never really thought that this case in particular had to do with him." _

"I know that's why I'm worried about the girl, but if you say that the document is legit, then I guess I have nothing to worry about right?"

"_Who is this girl by the way?"_

"I wish I could tell you, but we can't seem to find any blood samples on the date base and her DNA doesn't match with anyone else's. It's like she's wasn't from this planet."

"…_or this time."_

"What did you say?"

"_Oh nothing, really don't worry about it. Anyways if you ever had any more trouble just let me know."_

Dr. Shawn Kidder raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Ok. Sorry about interrupting you."

"_Don't worry about it! How is Carol doing?"_

"She's better. She's just getting really annoyed about having to carry 5 pounds every where she goes."

Laugh. _"I bet. Anyways I really have to go. Oh could you send me the document over so I could have a look at it though."_

"Yeah that will be a good idea. Anyways I can't let Mr. Kamiya waiting any longer. I'll call you later ok?"

"_Ok. Talk to you later Shawn. Bye."_

"Bye Mimi." Dr. Shawn Kidder sighed again hanging up the phone. He massaged his temples and took the document in his hands again_. 'So this isn't fake. Now what am I going to do?'_ he asked himself walking back to his office.

* * *

Mimi stared at the phone under her hand for a few more minutes. She just couldn't believe her ears. _'Tai…'_ she thought._ 'What the hell are you doing?'_

She looked over her shoulder toward the window to the now setting sun until a bad feeling took over her thoughts._ 'No way!' _she thought and took the phone once again.

"Yes, thank you. This I Mimi Tachikawa, I would like to book a first class ticket to Tokyo. Yes I'll wait."

* * *

"Ok Mr. Kamiya everything seems to be in order." Dr. Shawn Kidder said looking over at Tai who was looking at him. "I guess I can't deny your visit any more."

Tai smiled triumphantly. _'Finally.' _He thought. "Is it possible for me to see her now?" he asked.

Dr. Shawn Kidder looked at him. "I there wouldn't be any harm in that." He said getting up from his chair. "But I must warm you Mr. Kamiya, she's isn't a stable metal state at the moment. You must _not_, raise your voice at any cost and you can't stay more than 20 minutes. I don't care if you are her legal guardian is for her own good."

Tai nodded following Dr. Shawn Kidder out the door.

"Dr. Kidder! Dr. Kidder wait it's an emergency!"

Tai and Dr. Shawn Kidder turned around watching a nurse running down the hall toward them.

"What is it?" Dr. Shawn Kidder asked the nurse once she caught her breath.

"It's the girl in room 6C. She's not there! We can't find her anywhere!"

"What?" both Tia and Dr. Shawn Kidder asked at the same time.

"Are you _sure_?" Tai insisted taking the nurse by the shoulders. "Did you check under the bed? In the bathroom?"

"Mr. Kamiya you must remain calm." Dr. Shawn Kidder said taking putting a hand on his shoulder. "I bet she's somewhere in the hospital. Call security! Make sure she doesn't leave the hospital."

"But Dr. we believe she jumped out the window." The nurse said looking at him.

"WHAT!" Tai said letting the nurse go and running down the hall.

**

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Authors Note:** So here's Chapter 2. I can't deny that I had some mayor inspiration before I wrote this chapter and that's why it turned out the way it did. And sorry I know most of your were hoping to get a glimpse of who this girl was (and I was actually going to reveal who she was but this idea got to me first) but I promise that next time I will let you guys know. If you do know, please do **not** post it on the review, I don't want people who don't know knowing. Haha what a little riddle. :P

Also I know that Mimi in the lawyer business is not like her but I just didn't want to put her in the fashion world. She's an intelligent girl so I figure to change her professional carrier a little bit.

**(1)** I know that it's not well said but I couldn't find another way of saying that.  
**(2)** I know that the Supreme Court doesn't have anything to do with minor cases such as giving someone a parental guardianship to another someone but I really don't know who are the chiefs in that department and couldn't really find them. SO before you judge, why don't you look it up yourselves at let me know.


	3. Go Where I Haven't Been

**The Ground Below Her**

** 3. Go Where I Haven't Been**

It was pouring rain outside the hospital walls. She could hear the drops of water tapping violently against the window. She blinked a few times when she saw the room being illuminated for a few seconds. She looked to her right and heard the all familiar sound of thunder outside. She blinked once again and made to get up but an unfamiliar pain on her abdomen stopped her dead on her tracks. Just when she was about to lift the sheets off her to see for herself where was the pain coming from, a nurse knocked on the door and entered.

"Well good afternoon Miss. Dr. Kidder was getting worried about you. How are we feeling today?" the nurse asked as she took a clip board from the side of her bed and wrote something on it, turning her attention back to her.

"_I'm-_" her voice came out really hoarse to her surprised. She cleared her throat several times before she continued. "I'm ok. I just have one question though."

The nurse came up to her bed and lifted the sheets off her checking on her arm bandages. "Sure." She said, lifting her hospital gown and pushing her fingers gently over a certain spot.

"_Ow!_" the girl moaned loudly when the nurse pressed her palms over her abdomen.

"On a scale from 1 to 10 how much does it hurt?" the nurse asked looking back at her and press her palms over the girl's stomach again.

"_Ow ow ow!" _the girl winced painfully. "I don't know 9?"

The nurse nodded writing down a few things on the clip board. "I'm going to have to ask you not too move too much or else the wound will open. If you need to get up to go to the bathroom just press this button here-" she pointed out to a red button on the right side of her bed "-Dr. Kidder will be with you shortly." And without further ado the nurse smiled at her and let the hospital room.

The girl sighed watching the closed door. She wasn't able to ask what she had wanted to ask her nurse. She raised her hand carefully and touched on the bandages that were covering the lower part of her abdomen. She pressed her fingers slightly on the wound, testing just how much pressure she could bare. She nodded to herself when she felt the now familiar pain rise up her spine and released the wound carefully.

She sighed once more and concentrated once again on watching the rain drops slide down the window.

* * *

"I'm glad you to see you finally woke up!" Dr. Shawn Kidder said smiling brightly. "How are we feeling today?"

The girl just stared at him. Just how many 'how are we feeling today?' was she going to fake smile? She was getting tired all of the confidentiality. She wanted to know her condition and she wanted to know it _now_. For god's sake it was _her_ body, so _she_ had a right to know.

"Better," was her simple reply.

Dr. Shawn Kidder walked up to her, checking some things on the monitors, nodding and writing the results on the charts, like he always did when he stopped by to visit.

"So how am I holding up?" she asked looking at him, not really waiting for a straight answer, but hey there was no harm in trying right?

Dr. Shawn Kidder's eyes clouded a bit. He clearly knew something that he didn't want her to find out about, but she never had enough time with him to figure out what it was.

"You…" he started choosing his words carefully. "Your blood pressure seems to be back to normal, which is good after all those attacks that you suffered from last week. It means the treatment is doing its job. The wounds in your abdominal area are healing as expected and the concussion in your head has fully healed. I think you are holding up better than we expected actually."

The girl looked at him. "Does that mean I get to see my dad and my friends now?" she asked hopefully.

There it was again, that shadow in the back of Dr. Shawn Kidders eyes. He coughed and looked through the window.

"Miss Takenouchi-"

"Sora."

"Sora," Dr. Shawn Kidder corrected himself. "Don't forget that you are not fully recovered yet. We have strict orders from the head chief to not let anyone besides the some chosen nurses or I see you. We can't change that until the head chief changes her mind."

Sora frowned looking at him. "But you just said that I was doing a _lot _better. I don't see why I can't see my _father_!" she said, making emphasis in the word father.

"Miss Takenouchi I'm just another doctor in this hospital, I can't disobey the rules. If you want I can serve as a messenger between you and your father-"

"NO!" Sora yelled sitting up suddenly. "I don't understand_ why _the hell I can't see my own father! For god's sake I've been locked up in this room ever since I got here! I'm not even allowed to walk in the garden with a nurse to keep an eye on me. I demand an explanation as to why I'm being held up as if I was some sort of _criminal_ or something!"

"Miss Takenouchi I'm going to ask you to calm down. This is a hospital." Dr. Shawn Kidder said in a stern voice. "Besides you are in no condition to-"

"No condition my _ass_," Sora said getting up from bed and pulling the wires that were stuck on her. "Why aren't I allowed human contact? Is there something infections about me that is going to kill the whole dam world? Is that it? Or is there something else that you and your _fake ass _nurses are not telling me?_ Huh?_"

Dr. Shawn kidder was about to ask her to calm down and lay back on bed, when Sora suddenly started walking in a rather drunken way. He ran up to her and caught her before she could hit the grown. Next he laid her back on bed and checked her pulse. _'It's beyond wild!' _he thought, pushing the button next to her bed, calling some nurses in the room.

* * *

"Sir you can't go in there!"

Sora woke up abruptly when she heard a nurse yell down the hall. _'What the hell?'_ she thought._ 'Don't they know this is a Hospital? There are people who are trying sleep around here!'_

"Excuse me sir but you can't run around a hospital!"

"Someone call security!"

Sora's eyes shot open. Just who is this person who's causing such chaos? She sat up in her bed quietly, fearing to make any noise whatsoever.

"Sir! We can't let you in the room!"

'_Room? What room?'_ Sora asked herself, pulling the covers off herself. _'Is it here?'_

"But it's important that I see-"

Now Sora was definitely sure that this person was trying to get in her room. She had her ear pressed against the door, wanting to know exactly who this person was. _'What if it's my dad?' _she smiled at that thought.

"Sir, we can't let you get any closer to the patient. She's in critical conditions right now. We have strict order of not letting anyone in. Unless you are one of her family members?"

Sora pressed her cheek closer to the door. From the deepness of the voice she imagined to be a grown up man. It was vaguely familiar; she just couldn't point out who it belonged to. She knew that voice from somewhere. _'Maybe one of my dad's friends?'_ She waited patiently for the persons answer.

"No. I…I was-I'm a friend of hers."

'What _did he say?' _Sora thought in panic. She took a few steps away from the door.

"You mean a friend of her father."

"No."

'_Oh please don't let him come in! Please!' _Sora thought looking at the door in panic. What if it was one of those pedophile guys who passed themselves as the patient's friends to rape them behind closed doors?

'_Sora!' _she thought furiously._ 'Get a hold of yourself! It's not like Dr. Shit Kisser is going to let him through like, when they don't even let me see my own father? Right?'_

Just this once Sora wished Dr. Shawn Kidder would remain as strict as he had been the past few days.

"I see. Would you care to come with me for a second?"

Sora waited patiently for the guys answer. When it never came the worst of scenarios came to Sora's mind._ 'What if he killed all the nurses? And Dr. Kidder? Oh my god! I have nowhere to run away.' _But her shoulders relaxed when she heard Dr. Shawn Kidder and that freaks foots steps backing away from the room.

'_Just what is going on here?'_ she thought, looking over her shoulder to the darkened sky.

* * *

Sora walked down the busy streets of Odaiba, feeling rather uncomfortable in the worn out jeans and t-shirt she had managed to steal from one of the nurses lockers back in the hospital. Good thing everyone was so busy with their own problems that they didn't even glanced at her.

It had taken her approximately 3 days to make up her mind about escaping that freak of a hospital. It was one thing that they kept her from seeing her friends and family, but the fact that they denied her freedom even among the hospital grounds was another thing.

'_The nerve of that guy!' _Sora thought had asked Dr. Shawn Kidder about the incident a few days back. She had been more than curious to know who had been that stranger that had caused so much trouble among the staff in the hospital, but like everything else Dr. Shawn Kidder had just smiled at her and left the room without another word. It was definitely getting damn frustration! They had no right to keep her in the shadows like they were doing. She had a right to know why she was being denied so many things.

'_Next time I see that Dr. Shit Kisser I'm going to give him a piece of my mind.' _Sora thought clenching her fist. She was just glad that she was finally out of that psycho hospital.

Sora hummed happily as she saw her apartment complex down the street. _'Finally! A place where people have a sane mind.'_ She thought amusedly. She wondered how her dad would react. Sora knew that her dad would get mad at her for escaping the hospital like she had, but on the other hand, Sora knew, that he would be glad to see his daughter again. It had been quite a few weeks since she had last seen him.

Sora pressed the code to the main entrance and opened the door, looking around the building's lobby. _'Wow! What happened here?' _she thought looking around. _'When did they change this?'_

Sora shocked her head and headed toward the elevator. She would ask her dad about the re-designed lobby later on. She pressed the 9th floor button and waited for the elevator to take her up. She stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall toward the last door. _'Home! Sweet home!' _Sora thought looking at her apartment door. She pressed the doorbell and waited patiently for her dad to open the door. She tried to put her best smile when she heard footsteps down the hall.

The door opened and a teenage guy with raven hair and green eyes about her age greeted her. He looked at her up and down and leaned against the door way smiling seductively.

"Yes?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Sora's breath caught in her throat. _'Who the hell is this guy?' _"Um hi…I don't think we have met before: I'm Sora." Sora said extending her hand for the guy to shake.

He grinned at her. "Kensua." He said. "Did…you need anything or…?"

Sora blinked. "Is my dad here?" she asked trying to look over his shoulder.

"Your dad?" he gave her a weird look.

"Haruhiko Takenouchi." Sora tried.

Kensua raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, but I think you are confused. There's no one living here besides me."

Sora blinked several times. "What?" she asked finally.

"I said-"

"No, no," Sora shocked her head. "I know what you said. I'm sorry; I think I confused the building. Goodbye."

And with that she ran toward the stairs.

* * *

'_Please be home, please be home, please…'_ Sora thought desperately clenching the public phone with both hands, afraid that it would slip off.

She had run down the stairs, toward the streets after she had met that Kensua kid. She had told herself that the only reason why she had ended up in his place was because the concussion in her head had made her think that _that _was her building. _'No wonder the lobby looked weird.'_ She thought looking at the public phone keys. She couldn't trust herself to call her place knowing perfectly well that she'll mess up and call someone else's; so she used a public phone to call the operator and ask her to communicate her with Haruhiko Takenouchi's residence. If she couldn't find her building she'll just have to ask her mom for the address.

"_Hello?" _

'_What?'_ "Hello?"

"_Hello?"_

"Hello?"

"_Hello." _

Sora rolled her eyes. "May I speak to Haruhiko Takenouchi please?"

"_Who?"_

"Haruhiko Takenouchi." Sora repeated, losing her patients.

"_I'm sorry but there's no one here by that na- wait Sora?"_

Sora's eyes widen. That voice. She knew that voice. "Kensua?" she dared ask.

"Yes he-"

Sora hung up the phone before he could say another thing. _'What is going on here?'_ she knew that she hadn't been mistake to ask for the right person to the operator. She had spelled out the name for the girl in the other side of the line so she wouldn't make mistakes. She stared at the phone. Finally making up her mind, she inserted another coin on the phone and dialed another number.

"Yes. Thank you. May I speak with Taichi Kamiya or Hikari Kamiya please?"

"_I'm sorry but there's no one living here with that name." _

"Oh…I'm sorry I think I misdialed." She hung up the phone and tried again.

"Thank you may I speak with Yamato Ishida? Oh I see…thank you."

"Is Mimi Tachikawa home? I'm sorry; I think I have the wrong number."

"Can I please speak with Koshiro Izumi?"

"Is Jo Kido home? Ok thank you."

"I need to speak with Takeru Takaishi. Urgh!" Sora slammed the phone up.

'_What the hell is going on here? Did everyone decided to move and not tell me about it?'_ Sora thought walking out of the phone cabin. At the beginning she thought she had misdialed, something she could deal with, but by the third time…she couldn't have misdial 4 times in a row.

'_Calm down. I just need to calm down.' _Sora thought pressing her fingers to her temple. "Maybe I just need to sit down and think things through." She checked her pockets from more money. _'YES!' _She thought when she found a wallet.

* * *

Sora sighed exhaustedly when she sat down at an outdoor café. She had roomed around the park searching for a familiar place to go, but now that she actually stopped to look around, she found herself looking at buildings and stores she had never seen before. She felt utterly lost.

Sora took the café's menu and decided to order apple pie and ice tea. She called for the waitress and ordered. It would be a few minutes till her order got here.

"Excuse me miss, but do you have a pencil?" an older woman in a suit asked her. She was on the phone.

Sora shocked her head no and smiled apologetically. "No sorry, but you could ask one of the waitresses." She offered.

The older women nodded motioning for one of the girls to lend her a pen. When she got it she started talking on her cell phone again, rather loudly, for Sora's taste.

"No. No. No. We order those cloths in February and its now June! What the hell are you guys doing that is taking you so long?"

Sora smiled at her. '_Typical_.' She thought, wondering where her pie and ice tea were. _'Wait a minute; did she just say it was June?'_ Sora re-ran what the woman had said. _'I'm positive I heard she say its June!'_ she thought. But that couldn't be, last time she check they were still on September.

"Excuse me miss…?" Sora said, tapping the women's shoulder.

The women in the suit glared at her. "George, wait a minute. What?" she asked irritably, covering her phone with one hand.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but did you just say it's June?"

The women rolled her eyes at Sora. "Sorry George what were you saying?"

Sora looked at her. _'What?'_ she thought. _'She acts as if I had just asked her if the sky was blue.'_

"Here you go miss, one apple pie and ice tea. Would you need anything else?" the young girl from before asked her.

Sora blinked a few times. "No. That's just fine. Just one question: what date is today?"

The girl checked her watch. "June 4th."

"Are you _sure_?"

The girl rolled her eyes and nodded, walking away.

Sora couldn't believe her ears. No. She didn't want to believe her ears. She looked around. Finally she spotted a guy reading the paper. _'Perfect.' _She thought walking over to him.

"Excuse me sir, but are you finished with the paper?" she asked politely.

The guy looked up at her and smiled. "Well I'm done with the business section?" he offered.

Sora nodded and smiled, taking the paper from his hands. She walked over to her table once more and sat. She opened the paper and looked for the date.

'_Bullshit. Bullshit. Something about a dead dog. Aha!' _"Tuesday June 4th, 2014." Sora said out loud. "Wait. _What_?" she asked herself, no believing what she had just read. _'Tuesday June 4__th__, 2014.'_

'_Just how long was I in that freaking Hospital?'_ Sora asked herself, putting down the paper, not wanting to believe what she had just read.

**

* * *

Author's Note: **Just a little noticed. I'm using full name on the Sora phone thingy because I thought it would be a little more formal. I'll be using their regular names from now on.

Also; thanks to everyone who reviewed. Here's a cookie.


	4. Found What They Didn't Steal

**The Ground Below Her**

** 4. Found What They Didn't Steal**

"What kind of hospital is this?" Tai yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "I just can't believe that you would let a patient who's in _critical_ conditions just _run away_ like that?"

"Mr. Kamiya, we are going to have to ask you to calm down or else we'll be forced to-"

"How can I calm down when-?"

"Dr. Kidder, we believe we found the girl."

"WHAT?" Tai yelled, taking the male nurse by the collar of his shirt. "Where? Are you sure is her?"

"Mr. Kamiya!" Dr. Shawn Kidder's stern voice echoed through the empty hallway. "Mr. Kamiya, this is the last time I tell you. Or you calm down and let us deal with things or you are banned from this hospital!"

Tai bit on his tongue, not trusting his temper. He looked at Dr. Shawn Kidder's stern face. The doctor clearly wasn't joking. Tai sighed letting go of the male nurse.

"Now," Dr. Shawn Kidder broke the ice, looking at the male nurse. "What were you going to say?"

The male nurse cleaned his uniform. "As I was saying…" _Glare_. "We believe we found the girl with that description near Akibanna café."

"Are you sure it's her?" Dr. Shaw Kidder persisted, cutting Tai off.

"Well since neither of the search team has _seen_ her, we are not sure, but the girl we saw matches the description perfectly."

Dr. Shawn Kidder nodded. "Since we can't arrest her and bring her here, just make sure your search team keeps a close eye on _this_ girl in particular. The other search teams are ordered to keep searching-"

"I'll help." Tai suddenly jumped. "I know how she looks like, so if someone who has _actually_ seen her helps, the search will be done faster."

"No you won't Mr. Kamiya." Dr. Shawn Kidder said.

Tai glared back at Dr. Shawn Kidder. "What do you mean 'I won't'? You can't keep me here you know." Tai said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh we know _that_." Dr. Shaw Kidder said. "But _I _need you here."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "There's this friend of mine I need you to speak with." Dr. Shawn Kidder specified.

"Listen, I really don't have time to chit chat with one of you stupid friends. You've made me wait long _enough. _I'm-" Tai said irritably, pointing his chest with his thumb.

"Taichi."

Tai stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that voice by heart. _'But it can't be- No, she, we all drifted apart ever since _that_ day.' _Tai thought, with his eyes wide open.

"It's been a couple of year, hasn't it?"

Tai looked to his right. "Mimi."

* * *

Sora ran down the busy streets of Odaiba, pumping into some people and hurriedly apologizing afterwards. She had no time to waste. _'Cleary _that _paper has some serious issues.'_ Sora thought smiling bitterly to herself, all she had to do was find a magazine stand and get the first paper she would find, she would check the date and then the world would get back on its feet.

Sora hurried her pace when she saw a little magazine stand at the corner of the street. When she reached the stand she took the first paper she saw. _'Ok, ok Sora, breath.' _Sora told herself while she searched for the current date.

Tuesday, July 4th 2014.

"Argh!" she screamed. Sora took the next paper she saw. Tuesday, July 4th 2014.

Sora took the nearest by magazine. Tuesday, July 4th 2014. _'No! No! This must be some kind of weird dream.'_ Sora pinched herself. _'Ow. Ok not a dream.' _Sora shocked her head, running further down the street to a store with a bunch of TV's. They were showing some news about the weather.

"…and we can expect a cold front hitting the northern part of the island this summer, so all of you who are expecting to hit the beach Hokkaido, you better be bring more than just your umbrella." The weather lady laughed at her own joke. "Now moving on to Tokyo. As you can see there will be some rain clouds hitting the next few days with some winds, but after that you can expect sun. We know that we need it after the rather long winter. That's it for today. I'll be expecting you tomorrow Wednesday for further news."

Sora's eyes shot open, finally realizing what she had been too afraid to accept.

* * *

Tai looked up from his hospital made coffee, toward where Mimi currently standing. It had been over 10 years since he had last seen her. She had really grown out of her old prissy self. To what used to be pink hair with yellow stars shoulder length hair, now was caramel color hair that fell past her shoulder but hardly reaching her middle back. It was still wavy-straight as he remembered. Her fashion had changed too. To what used to be mini-skirts with knee length boots, now was replaced with white pants, brown shirt with a scarf wrapped around her neck, and a white informal jacket adorning her shoulders. Her make-up was a lot lighter than he remembered, but she still wore some blush, eye liner and lip gloss, which showed her natural beauty. 25 year old Mimi Tachikawa was certainly more beautiful than he remembered.

Tai blushed slightly when Mimi turned her gaze away from Dr. Shawn Kidder toward Tai, who had been checking her out without her permission, and smiled to herself. Tai watched as she smiled to Dr. Shawn Kidder and kissed his check obviously thanking him. She turned around with some papers in her hands and walked over to where Tai had been sitting patiently. When she reached him, she smiled.

"So how do I look?" she asked, taking him off guard.

"What?" Tai asked, looking up at her.

"Well you were obviously checking me out back there." Mimi said sitting at the table. "I'm just asking for your opinion."

Tai glared at her. "I see that you still haven't been able to get over your big head." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

Mimi smiled at this. "And I see that you still have that short temper."

Tai 'humped' looking away from her.

Mimi smiled for a brief second, her face turning serious suddenly. "Tai I know what you are trying to do." She said, making him look back at her.

"What do you mean?"

Mimi gave him the don't-play-dumb-with-me look. Tai just smiled apologetically.

"Tai we don't even know if it's the same girl." Mimi started. "And even if she is-"

"She is." Tai interrupted suddenly. "I know it."

"How _do_ you know?" Mimi asked, looking skeptical.

Tai leaned on the table with his elbows. "It has to be her. Everything else matches, the date, the accident, the wounds, her physical features. It has to be her."

"Tai…" Mimi started looking at him in the eyes. "Stop trying to imagine facts. And even if it _is _her…then what? What are you going to tell her? How are you going to explain what happened to her?"

Tai's gaze fell on the table.

"Tai. I'm you friend." Mimi took his hand in hers. "I'm here for you, but you have to let me in otherwise I won't be able to-"

"Don't you think it's her?" Tai asked suddenly, taking Mimi off guard.

"What?"

"I said," Tai repeated looking into her eyes. "Don't you think that there's a slight possibility that _this_ might be Sora?"

Mimi's eyes lowered at that.

* * *

Sora sat on a park bench hugging her knees to her stomach. After checking out _all _the newspapers there were available and _most _T.V. show, she had decided that it really was July 2014. _'It's not like all the papers can be wrong about this.' _Sora thought bitterly looking absentmindedly at the grass. Suddenly a rather familiar face walked in front of her. Sora blinked a few times not really understanding what she had just seen. _'Could that be?'_ She asked to herself, forcing her body to get up.

* * *

"Why won't you understand?" Tai yelled, getting frustrated.

"There's nothing to understand Tai." Mimi shot back in a calm voice. "You have to _get over it_. It was _years_ ago, you can't beat yourself over something like this anymore."

Tai clenched his fists looking down at the rather calm looking Mimi. "How can you say that?"

"I'm only saying this because it's-"

"How can you say that about her? How _dare_ you talk about Sora _that_ way? Don't you understand? She's back, she's _here_ and we need to find her."

Mimi sighed leaning her head in her hand. "Tai, we've been _over_ this. It _wasn't _your fault, so stop acting like a child and get over it unless you want to lose your sanity too." Mimi said massaging her temples.

Tai hit the desk with his fist. "Mimi, Sora was your _best friend. _How could you have given up so _easily_?"

"Who said it had been easy?" Mimi yelled, losing her remaining patients. "Who said that I got over the fact that my _best friend _who disappeared in front of my eyes, without me being able to do anything, _anything, _about it was a left over topic for me? Huh?"

Tai just watched her as she mouthed her thoughts. He had never seen her like this. It was almost like…

"_Taichi_, don't you _dare_ speak another word about my lack of emotion about Sora disappearing because that is the _one_ thing, the _only_ thing, you have no idea to what you are talking about." Mimi finished clenching her fist tightly, making her arms shiver.

"Mimi…" Tai whispered walking over to her. "I'm-"

"I was _there_." Mimi continued, this time in a calmer but still hurt voice. "I was there. I saw it coming but I-I-I just froze. I was too scared to lose my life at the moment. I was being selfish again. When I finally found the courage to move again, she…Sora was…and the Palmon was screaming for help, and you just started running and everything just…"

Tai just looked at her without uttering a single word. He didn't think that she had actually _seen_ what had happened. He bowed his head looking at the ground. He searched his thought to try and come up with something to say but everything just seemed so…_wrong_.

"Tai, you've lost a lot." Mimi finally broke the silence. "You lost your parents, you friends, your _sister_, because of what happened afterwards."

Tai remained in silence. "Do you really want to-?"

"Mimi," Tai interrupted quickly. "I have nothing to lose. If it's not her and it's just someone that looks like her then fine, I'll only be wasting my time; but if it _is _her then…I…I just…I just want to tell her all the thing I meant to tell her that day. I've been waiting for 10 years to speak those words and until I do, I won't…I won't be able to move on."

Mimi's eyes shot opened. "What?" she asked not really understand what he was rambling about.

"I was the one that made her go there." Tai answered looking up at her.

"Y-y-you mean to say…" Mimi shuttered.

Tai only nodded. "So now you understand when I say that it _was_ my fault?"

* * *

"Wait, Matt!" Sora yelled running toward a certain blonde hair boy. Upon reaching him, she touched his shoulder making him turn around.

The blonde haired boy blinked. "Yes?" he asked looking down at Sora.

"Um excuse me. I must have confused you for someone else. I'm sorry." Sora apologized quickly. _'It's not him.'_ she thought backing away. _'I don't understand what is going on here. If it really has been over 10 years, why am I still the same? Shouldn't I have aged even if it was for a little bit?' _

"How come I still look the same I did 10 years ago?" Sora asked no one in particular.

* * *

"Taichi!" Mimi yelled after him, as Tai was about to run out the door. "Wait!"

"I can't! We have to find her! Who know what would happen to her if we just leave her to her luck!" Tai said looking back at Mimi frustrated.

"I know, _baka._" She said smiling. "I was just going to tell you to wait for me. I'm coming with you."

Tai stopped dead in his track to look back at her. "Wha-?"

"Sora is my friend too you know." Mimi said before he could even say a word. "I'm worried about her as much as you are. Besides it will be a lot faster if two people are looking for her rather than one."

"What about…?" Tai said pointing with his head to Dr. Shawn Kidder.

Mimi looked over her shoulder. "Don't worry about him. I told him too keep my informed about the girl. If it is her, they'll let me know."

Tai smiled at Mimi. "Thank you." He whispered giving her a hug.

"What?" Mimi asked blushing slightly when Tai let go.

"Come on, we have to hurry before she finds a way out of Odaiba." Tai said running out the door.

'_Whoa.'_ Mimi thought still a little dizzy from Tai's unexpected hug. She shocked her head slightly. _'Mimi, concentrate. Find Sora. Leave those kind of thoughts for later.' _Mimi told herself, running after Tai.

* * *

The air was cool as it blew the cherry blossoms leaves from its branches. It was clear that summer was ending and the start of fall was just around the corner. A lone girl in the swing tightened her grip on the chains. What was she supposed to do? She didn't have anywhere to go. No family, no friends. She fought back tears that were threatening to fall.

"SORA!"

Sora looked up from her feet toward the source of familiar the voice. It couldn't be. It was impossible. She got up from the swing and looked around. Her imagination was playing with her again. There was no way he was here in this strange world with her. She was about to turn back when a familiar face appeared before her. Sora was speechless.

"Sora! Thank god you are ok. I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Taichi?" Sora asked not believing her eyes.

**

* * *

Author's Note:** Ok, I admit it, not my best chapter so far. I rambled on and on and on. Sorry, but I guess I was just not that focus on this chapter as I was on the previews ones.

I hope you guys enjoyed it though.


	5. You Were Really Lost

**Author's Note:** I'm late. I know. I'm sorry guys, but I had finals this week and have been absolutely stressed out over things! But here it is chapter 4. I'll try to update _once _or_ twice_ every month from now on. Thanks to everyone who kicked my ass about the updates.

**Some to take notice: **I know that I said in the previous chapter that Sora used to live with her mother, but I changed it so Sora used to live with her _father. _Don't worry I fixed it.

**

* * *

**

**The Ground Below Her**

**5. You Were Really Lost**

Sora looked into space, letting her mind drift off to the familiar sound of rain drops hitting against the window softly. She let her eyes wonder from the blind spot she'd been staring at to the now illuminated city next to her. She watched at the city lights warmed up the rainy night. She closed her eyes unconsciously when she saw a sudden ray of light illuminate the darken sky. The next few seconds were filled with the sound of thunder, making her hug her knees closer to her chest, to stop herself from jumping off the couch she was sitting on. She re-opened her eyes when she felt two people walk into the living room. She didn't need to look up to know who it was, she already knew. She let her eyes wonder outside the window once again.

"Don't you want anything to eat or drink?" Tai asked Sora, walking over to her and sitting on the opposite couch, in front of her.

Sora didn't take her eyes off the city. "No." She said flatly.

Mimi frowned, ready to make a remark about her rather rude attitude, but was shut down by Tai's eyes. She crossed her eyes over her chest and looked back at Sora.

"Aren't you cold? Do you want me to get you a blanket or a sweater for that matter?" he asked, knowing perfectly well that the tank top and shorts that she was wearing weren't a good coat for the cold atmosphere.

"I'm fine." She replied simply, never looking back at him or thanking him for his concern.

Tai eyed her. He was getting annoyed at her cold attitude. He sighed leaning back on the couch and laying his arms on his lap. He took looked out the window. There was a long stretched out silence.

"Why…" Sora stared, not really knowing how to continue. "Why are you helping me?"

Both Mimi and Tai looked back at her, startled that she had dared say more than 3 words at once.

"What do you mean?" Mimi tried, testing her voice.

Sora looked at her from the corner of her eye, just for a moment. "Why are you being so nice to a complete stranger? Why did you bring me back here? It's not like I can give you anything in exchange."

Mimi opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by Tai's answer. "Because you are our friend." He said, smiling warmly at her.

Sora looked at him. "Friend?"

"Yes friend. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts." Tai explained.

"But we just met." Sora said cautiously.

Tai raised an eyebrow at that. "Then how come you know our names?"

Sora's eyes widen at that. It was true; she had called them by their names earlier that evening. "Because you two remind me of two people whom I used to know."

"Then why did you come with us?"

"I…" Sora said hugging her knees tighter. What was she supposed to say? "I…I didn't have a choice."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "We always have a choice. You chose to come with us. That's why you are here and not out there getting wet."

Sora frowned, this time looking at him in the eyes. "Ok fine. I wanted to come with you; but let me remind you that,_ you_ were the one who offered _me_ to come."

"I know." Tai smiled at this.

"Why?"

"I told you. We are friends. A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Sora asked getting frustrated. "What do you know about me? What makes you so sure that _we _are friends? I could be a serial killer you know."

Tai laughed at this. "I know more about you than you think." Sora just eyed him.

"Ok, can we just cut the chit chat and get straight to the point here?" Mimi interjected, letting her arms fall down on her side. Both Tai and Sora looked at her. "Sora," she started looking at her. "It's _us_. Don't pretend that you don't' know us, because as I recall you are a worst actress than Seijo Matsuda. Just an actress." She explained looking at the girl's confused look. "Sora what we want to know is, where were you? What happened to you? Do you even realize how much trouble you've caused all of us? We went crazy looking for you, and just one day ordinary day we find you sitting on a park swing like _nothing_ had happened."

Sora turned her eyes away from the older girl. "Why does it matter? I'm here now."

"It _matters_," Mimi half screamed. "Because-"

"Mimi!" Tai's stern voice cut her off. "Knock it off."

Mimi glared at him, but shut her mouth.

"Sora…we just want to know what happened. Why did you leave without saying goodbye?"

"I didn't." She whispered, looking at the carpet.

"What?" Mimi and Tai asked at the same time.

"I said: I didn't. I never chose to leave. I never chose to come…here." Sora explained, never tearing her eyes away from the carpet.

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked, not quite getting her answer. Tai just remained silent.

Sora's head jerked up. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't even _know _where I am."

"You are in Odaiba, Tokyo." Mimi said.

"I _know_ that." Sora said, glaring at her. "But…I mean just look at you two." Both Mimi and Tai looked at each other. "Why are you so big and grown up but I'm still…well me…why haven't I changed one bit if it's been over 10 years?"

Mimi opened her mouth to reply, but once again was cut off by Tai. "That's what we want to know."

Sora just looked at him, frustration and confusion visible on her face.

"Sora the last record we have of you is back in 2004, around September."

"September 3rd." Sora corrected

"Yeah." Tai said placing his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. "We were supposed to meet up at the Digiworld, near Primary Village. I remember getting there and waiting for you, but you never showed up. We looked for you everywhere but you-"

"What?" Sora interrupted, looking at him.

"What?" Tai asked, not really understanding her question.

"What do you mean Primary Village and Digiworld? What is that?"

Tai frowned. "You don't remember?"

"Remember _what_ exactly?"

Tai looked at Mimi, and then he looked back at Sora. "The Digiworld. Biyomon? We went there one summer with Matt, Joe and the rest of our friends."

"Biyomon? The Digiworld? What are you talking about? I've never heard such things in my life." Sora said looking at Tai in the eyes.

"What do you mean by that? How can you not remember-?"

"Sora," Mimi quickly interrupted Tai. "What do _you_ remember?"

Sora looked at Mimi. "Can you be more specific?" she asked.

"Who were your family and friends? Where did you grow up? What school did you go to? Who did you used to live with?"

Sora looked at the older girl for a minute, and then she looked down and leaned her chin on her knees. "I was born June 6 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. I've lived all my life in Odaiba, Tokyo where I went to school with my friends: Tai, Matt, Joe and Izzy." She looked up again. "You moved away to the United States one summer when we were 14. I used to live with my dad: Haruhiko Takenouchi-"

"Your dad?" Tai interrupted. "What happened to your mother?"

Sora's eyes darkened. "What about her?"

Tai looked at her. "Did she live with you two?"

"My mother," Sora said in a cold tone. "Left my dad when I was 7. She had an affair with a guy and my dad found her in bed with the man. They got divorced after that and I chose to live with my dad. You should know this."

Tai leaned forward. "Why do you say so?"

"Because you were there when it happened! Don't you remember? It was right after that big soccer tournament…?" Sora tried. When she saw his confused face she added. "You scored the winning goal!"

Tai and Mimi looked at each other.

"What?" Sora asked, obviously frustrated.

Tai just shocked his head slightly. "It's nothing, really-"

"You are not Sora." Mimi interrupted suddenly.

Tai glared at her, while Sora just looked at the older girl with a strange look. "What do you mean I'm not Sora? Didn't you guys bring me here because you thought I was Sora? I mean…" Sora tried getting frustrated with herself for not coming up with something better to say. "Why did you guys came looking for me in the first place? How did you even know I was in that hospital?"

"Sora that's not the point." Mimi stood in front of her, making sure the younger girl got intimidated with her height. "The point is-"

"NO!" Sora stood up quickly, interrupting her. "You've asked a lot of question so far and I'm getting tired of you guys hiding whatever it is that you know about me. I want to know _now_."

Tai stood up too, putting a hand over Mimi's shoulder, trying to calm her down. He knew that Sora's rudeness and temper were getting on her nerves, but they couldn't afford for Sora to run away again. They needed answers. Well more like _he wanted _answers.

"Maybe we should just calm down and order some pizza-"

"NO!" Both girls yelled at the same time.

"Listen Takenouchi," Mimi started glaring at Sora. "I'm getting tire of your lack of delicacy. You clearly don't want to tell us the truth about what happened 10 years ago. You _know_ something that we don't. We want answers and we want them now!"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked losing what little patience she had left. "I _told_ you. I don't have a freaking idea of what _you _guys are talking about. All you say is Digiworld and Primary Village. What the hell is that? You guys brought _me _here, so don't make it seem like I _begged _you."

"Guys…?" Tai tried, looking between them.

"You've always been like this Sora." Mimi continued, ignoring Tai. "You've always hid something from us all. No matter how much we tried to make you open to us, you always shut us out. Even after the Digiworld. It was clear that you were going through some hard times but every time we tried to help you, you shoved up away."

"_Guys!" _

"What are you talking about Tachikawa?" Sora shot back. "You were never even _noticed _that I was going through a hard time till everyone else had to practically scream it at you. You were always so self-centered and never cared about other people's lives. You never even _once_ asked me how I was doing after I had picked up the phone to find out that dad was talking to my mom about me moving in with her!"

"That never happened!" Mimi yelled.

"Hey guys!"

"Yes it did! And you would've noticed if you hadn't been so obsessed with your stupid crush on Tai!" Sora yelled back.

"GUYS!" Both Mimi and Sora turned to look at a now red Tai. "You girls used to be best friends. Don't you remember?"

"Not really."

"Used to. Past tense."

Sora and Mimi said at the same time.

Tai sighed, taking Mimi's arm and shoving her toward the kitchen. "The number for the pizza is on the fridge. Make it extra-large with cheese, ham, and dried tomatoes. Extra sauce." Mimi was about to protest, but Tai pushed her out of living room. He looked back at Sora.

"What?" Sora said, glaring at him.

Tai sighed sitting back on the couch before him. "You've always had a short temper."

"So you are saying it's_ my_ fault?" She started again. "It was she who started insulting _me_."

Tai grinned. "Well technically you both did at the same time, but that's not the point here-"

"Then _what_ is the point here?" Sora asked, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently.

"The thing is that, you look exactly like our friend." Sora looked at him. "But not just your looks, the way you talk, your personality. The only thing that doesn't match is-"

"That I don't know a thing about the Digiworld."

"That and that your life was different from our Sora." Tai finished looking at her.

Sora winced slightly when he said 'our Sora', but chose not to make a big deal about it. This was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. If she wasn't the person they were looking for why did they kept her here?

"You still haven't answered my question." Tai looked up. "How did you know I was in _that hospital?"_

Tai sighed. "Well it's a long story-" he tried, but decided to continue when he saw her face. "Well a friend of mine was at the same hospital a few weeks back, he'd been in a car crash. I went to visit him one day and caught a glimpse of your hair. I tried to look over who it was, since not many people have the same shade of hair as your, but they didn't let me get to close to you. They said that you were very delicate and unless I was family I couldn't get closer. I just let it go for a few days, till I caught one of the nurses talking."

"_Can you believe it? She has no family at all!" One of the nurses commented, walking down the hall with her friend._

"_At all? Have they tried the police yet?" The other nurse asked. _

"_Yes. And they were really surprised."_

"_What why?"_

"_Well one of the police men came to look at her and take her footprints and DNA test. He was really surprised when he saw her. He said that she looked exactly like the girl who disappeared 10 years ago."_

_Tai who had been walking down the hall behind the nurses stopped to listen to their conversation. It wasn't like him to eavesdrop, but that red hair had marked his curiosity. No matter how much he'd tried to get any information about the girl, no one would tell me anything concrete. _

"_10 years ago?" her friend asked, not really getting it._

"_Don't you remember? The daughter of Toshiko Takenouchi!"_

"_That's her?" The second nurse asked. _

"_Well they are not completely sure yet. They need to run some test first before they are completely sure…"and with that both nurses rounded the corner, their voice fading._

"I tried to see you afterwards so many times, but the nurses said that I couldn't approach you because you were delicate. I told them that I was your friend, but that damn doctor made a big deal about our age difference. I needed to confirm that it was really you." Tai finished, looking at her.

Sora blinked several times. "Wait you _were_ that guy who tried to come into my room a few days ago?"

"Yes." Tai smiled at her. "They said that you were in 'no condition to receive any visitors'. The only way to get them to let me see you was if I became a member of your family. By the time I got the permission-"

"Wait what did you just say?" Sora hurriedly asked, not believe her ears.

"By the time I-"

"No before that."

"What part?" Tai asked impatiently.

"The part about you becoming member of my family?"

"Oh, that…" Tai said, trailing off. He diverted his eyes to the night rain. "Well I asked my lawyer to make me your legal guardian."

"You _did_ what?"

Tai looked back at her. "What you heard. _I,_ Taichi Kamiya, became your legal guardian as of May 29th 2014."

Sora blinked not really believing her ears. "Wh-what-how-why!"

Tai winced slightly, not used to her anger. "Sora is was the only way to make them let me see you, and besides you don't have anyone else, and if the government didn't find you a family soon, you'll be put away in a orphanage-"

"What about my family?" Sora asked, interrupting him once again.

"What about your family?"

"Where are they? My so called mother, which you and Mimi keep mentioning, my dad, my cousins, my grandparents? Did they disappear too?"

"Sora, your family is dead." Tai said in a tone that would make it seem like she already knew that.

"What-what?" Sora's shocked face worried Tai.

He got up, placing hands on her shoulder and seated her on the couch, gently. He sat down on the coffee table before her.

"You mom died in the car accident the day before you disappeared. Your dad died in prision when you were six. Your grandparents died along with your mother. Sora don't you remember?"

Sora looked back at Taichi. Cold ice fear took over her eyes. Her face paled incredibly after he was done. She opened her mouth to say something, _anything_, but not a sound came out. She was alone.

"What…?" Sora's sore voice asked. "So that means that…that…"

"Sora?" Mimi called out to her from the doorway leading to the hall. "Are you ok?"

Sora didn't look back at her; she just stared at Tai's calmed face with fear and pain.

"So that means that I'm truly alone."


	6. Same Before, Same Again

**Author's Note: **Sorry I would've posted sooner, but my computer decided that it was funnier to delete what I had and make me re-write everything, _again_. ¬¬. Good news is that I have a brand new computer now (thanks to Santa :]) and I won't be experiencing technical difficulties in the future. So expect the update to happen sooner.

Ok so **warning **this chapter is…_weird_.

* * *

**The Ground Below Her**

**6. Same Before, Same Again**

"How is she?" Mimi asked as she walked over to Tai, who was leaning against the door.

"I think she's asleep." Tai said, looking over his shoulder. "Either that or she ran out the window."

Mimi looked at him reprovingly. "This is no time to make jokes." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Have you tried getting her to open the door?"

Tai nodded. "She won't even yell insulting comments at me anymore. I'm really starting to worry over her."

"Make up to you to make a joke out of this." Mimi sighed leaning against the wall. "It's been over a week now. I know that she has been sneaking in food while we are gone, so I'm no exactly worried over her starving herself to death, but shouldn't we try to do something more drastic? Like knock the door over or fake a fire or something like that?"

Tai tried not to smile. "Who's making jokes now? I think we should just leave her alone for now."

"Tai it's been 6 days!" Mimi said, exasperated. "Don't you think that she's over reacting much?"

Tai eyed her. "Mimi how would you feel if you woke up one day to find that everyone you knew was 10 years older without you having to go through that change. She _has _been missing for over 10 years. A lot has happened since-"

"I _know_ that!"

"Then stop trying to push her to move at your rhythm. Not everyone gets over things as fast as _you_ do." Tai scowled, not realizing the double meaning of his voice.

Mimi glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Tai narrowed his eyes. "Whatever you want it to mean." He straightened up from his position at the door. "Anyways, I'm getting some pizza. Do you want some?"

"Yeah, thanks." Mimi said absentmindedly. "Get extra pepperoni."

"Sure."

Mimi took a step forward, putting the back of her fist against the door. She hesitated slightly but finally knocked on the door. "Sora," she called, making sure her voice was even. "Sora? It's Mimi. Open the door so we can talk."

There was no answer whatsoever, making her frown slightly. She leaned closer to the door and knocked again. "Sor," she tried, using her friend's old nickname. "I want to talk things over."

When she didn't hear any reply, she frowned frustrated. _'The nerve of this girl!'_ Mimi thought, preparing herself to yell at the close door, but when she was about to open her mouth, she saw how the door open slightly. It didn't open all the way, but it was fine enough to give it a little push and swing it open completely.

Mimi pushed the door open gently, trying not to let her anger get the best of her. When she walked inside the door, the first thing she noticed was that no one was in the room. She looked around troubled. The bed was perfectly made, which meant that Sora either never slept on it or had used it to make it back again. The bathroom door was wide open reveling the spot free bathroom absolutely organized, with no hits of it ever been used. The couch that lay on the side of the room was exactly the same as it had been last time she saw it. The cushiness in their right place, with the remote control to the TV on one of them. She turned around alarmed when she saw that Sora was nowhere to be found.

'_She couldn't have-' _"God! There you are!" Mimi said, watching a small figure looking out the window. "We were worried about you, you know?"

Sora didn't even bother on turning around or answering.

Mimi frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know, the least you could do is tell us what is on your mind. We are your friends. Friends support each other. We are here to help."

Sora just kept staring out the window. Mimi, uncrossed her arms over her chest and was about to shot something, when for the first time since she walked in noticed, the younger girl's appearance. Her skin which had always been tanned and healthy now looked a sick shade of white. Her hair which had grown over the years to the middle of her back looked messier and uncared for. There were purple bags under her eyes, letting Mimi know that Sora had spent more than one night awake. Her eyes, though, were what scared Mimi the most.

"Sora…" Mimi started walking over to the younger girl.

"That day…" Sora started, hugging her knees closer to her chest. "That day…we had an argument."

Mimi looked at her stunned. "What…what do you mean?"

"My mother and I had another argument like always but…that time, I felt…I felt like I was actually saying those things to hurt her. To _really_ hurt her."

Mimi stopped. She looked at her quietly.

"I…I said some things to her that, by the time I didn't really think I would regret but…now…now…I wish, things wouldn't have turned out the way they are now. I mean I know that what happened wasn't my fault, but…now that she's not here when I need her the most, even after all she did…well I miss her."

"Sora…what are you…?"

"I was only 12 then and I didn't really know what it meant to have a loving mother with me. I was just so mad at her because I saw her with _that_ guy on her and _it_ made me so _mad_." Sora shuddered a little. "Dad always encouraged me to call her and apologize but…"

"Sora," Mimi started, looking at her fiercely. "What happened happened. You can't stay stuck in the past forever. You need to learn how to move _forward_."

"Even if it means losing everything I thought was real?"

Mimi took a step back, not really expecting this question. "Sora, you-"

"Stop the 'You-have-us' crap. I know I have you guys. I _know_ that." Sora interrupted, looking at her, but not standing from her position by the window.

"Then why are you acting like this is all about you?" Mimi asked, getting annoyed by the younger girl's attitude.

"Because it _is_ about me. It's about me, inexplicably, jumping 10 years in the future, but not into my future. It wouldn't be so bad if it was _my_ future, or the future I thought I would have some day. Like if my dad was still around or even my friends. I know that you are my friends." Sora quickly added, when she saw Mimi had opening her mouth to say something. "But it's just not the same. I mean you keep talking about all these events in my life that I have no record of and the things I _do _have record off you have absolutely no idea what _I'm_ talking about. It's just so frustrating to know that-"

"Oh my god. _Shut up!_" Mimi yelled shaking her. "Is this why you haven't come out for over a week? Is this really what you've been thinking about all this time that you've been here? You are seriously pathetic."

Sora frowned. As much as she liked Mimi and the fact that she knew that she had a tendency of being brutally honest, I didn't meant that she had to be all bitch about _her_ problems. "What do you know? All you've cared about all your life was about hair, make-up, and how to get semi-naked with the first pretty face that crossed your sight. You have _no_ idea what I'm going through."

Mimi frowned at that, taking a step back and looking down at Sora reprovingly. "Yeah well _you _never really gave a damn to acknowledge the fact that we were trying so hard to get _you_ to talk to _us_ about _your_ problems. Even with Tai's family issues and Matt's stress endure mutilation, we tried our best to be there for you. You never, not even _once, _let us help you out on something you knew had a solution."

Sora got up from her sitting position, obviously angered by Mimi's words. "What do you know about what I was going through? All you cared about was how to toss around you fake dye hair and make boys live and die at your command. If you haven't noticed by now, Tai never really fell for it."

"Well at least _I_ did something about my crush, not like you, who could only stare with jealousy and make a big deal about being over it. Using a friend of yours, especially one who had such strong feelings for you to make a point is low. Lower than I thought you would go." Mimi shot back, not even trying to get her voice even.

'_Whoa.' _Sora thought, enraged. _'Too far.' _"Do you know what was it about you that angered me the most, flirting and slutty cloths aside, the fact that you couldn't seem to get over the fact that someone could resist your fake-ass charm. Not everything in this world is going to stop just because you command it."

"At least _I_ get up and do something. I never really understood your passion for just sitting around and wait and see _if_ things by any miracle of destiny change. If you want things to change you have to do something to make it happen, not just mop around all day thinking about the 'what if's' of the situation."

Sora was about to shot back something when suddenly Tai appeared at the door. "Hey guys, the pizza's already here."

Mimi sighed, uncrossing her arms and trying to forget over her former anger. "Finally. I was starting to think we wouldn't have to pay for it."

Tai grinned at her. "They didn't take that long. It's been only 10 minutes. It's a record actually. You up for some pizza Sor?"

"No thank you. I'm not hungry." Sora said quietly, sinking back down on her seat by the window.

"Why are you acting like such a brat?" Mimi asked, looking over her shoulder.

Sora glared back at her. "Oh so suddenly, refusing to eat has become 'brat like attitude'?"

"You know, your attitude is starting to get me." Mimi said coldly, turning her back to her.

"My 'attitude'? What is that supposed to mean?"

"The way you act so indifferent to the fact that we are trying our best to help you out through this. You haven't even once acknowledge-"

"Oh my god! How hypocrite can you get?" Sora asked, shaking her arms. "What is this all about? I told you from the beginning that I didn't have any way to repay you guys. I don't. If I had some money or a place to go, believe me, I would just leave out the front door! I thought you guys were doing this out of 'friendship', but apparently-"

"That's not what we are doing here Sora. So don't even try going _there_." Mimi warned her voice ice cold.

"Then tell me the real reason why you guys are doing this?" Sora asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Because Tai-"

"Sora," Tai interrupted quickly, pulling Mimi closer to him. "Don't worry about it. There's three pizzas' with some sprite on the coffee table. Why don't you help yourself to some?"

Sora was about to protest but saw the serious parent like look Tai had. It meant he would never accept a 'No' for an answer, meaning no arguing. She 'humped' at Mimi and left out the door, toward the living room.

When Tai made sure that Sora was out of ear shot, he shot Mimi a dangerous look. "What did you tell her?"

Mimi looked annoyed. "Why do you instantly think that _I_ was the one who's at fault here?"

"Because the rare few times you guys have fought it's been because you said something." Tai reminded her.

Mimi narrowed her eyes. "Well it's not like you are such a saint either. If I remember correctly you'"

"Mimi!"

"I didn't say anything to the girl ok? She was just over reacting about everything. I told her to get over it and start living the present but she got all snarky at me and said-"

"Mimi, how can you expect her to move on so quickly? She's 10 years in the future, and it's not like any future she'd know about. I mean the people closest to her are dead or-"

"I know that!" Mimi said, exasperated. "But why can't you guys understand that staying in the past it's not going to solve anything at all? We have to learn how to deal with the mistakes of the past and continue on living. That's what life is about. We can't expect our lives to be perfect." At this Mimi's rage calmed down a little, making her last words just a bare whisper. "Or else it'd be a movie that only you are watching."

Tai's eyes softened at this. "Mimi you-"

"It doesn't matter. What happened happened. There's no need to get sad over something like that. I told you it's in the past and I'm getting over it…slowly but surely." Mimi smiled at that.

Tai didn't look completely convinced but he let it go. He knew that talk about it would only make Mimi remember what had happened. He was about to make a comment about just how much she had changed over the years when they both heard Sora swear out loud. They exchanged looks and hurried toward the living room.

"What happened?" Mimi asked worriedly.

"Nothing I just cut my finger," Sora said licking her thumb. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure? Maybe you cut yourself deeper than you think." Mimi insisted walking over to her.

"Mimi, dude. Chill." Sora said eying her weirdly. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Well I'm sorry for caring." Mimi snapped, not completely over their previous argument.

Sora narrowed her eyes, ready to snap something back at her when Tai suddenly spoke,

"Hey, you didn't order anchovies." Tai said looking over at the pizzas. "You didn't order any of the ingredients I told you to get."

"Tai M&M's is _not_ a pizza ingredient." Mimi scowled looking over at him.

"Have you tried it?" Tai asked.

"No," Mimi said.

"Then how do you know it's not a pizza ingredient. You've never tried it before, so you can't tell whether is good or bad."

"Tai are we seriously gonna argue over some crazy pizza toppin'?"

"I'm not arguing I'm just-"

"So when are the others going to get here?"

Both Tai and Mimi looked over to where Sora was sitting on the couch and eating a pizza slice.

"What 'others'?" Mimi asked, turning her attention over to Sora.

Sora gave her a weary. "You know, Matt, Izzy, Joe. Those others. They are alive right? I was the only one who just magically disappeared." When she saw their expressions, she continued. "Right…?"

Neither Tai nor Mimi answered.

"Don't tell me you are the only ones that magically survived, or that in this weird world there are not Matt and the others."

After a few uncomfortable minutes, Mimi finally spoke. "No they are alive, it's just that…"

"It's just that…what?"

"It's just that…" Mimi tried to continue. How was she supposed to explain something that still hurt deeply.

"It's just that what? Tell me! I have a right to know if I'm to stay here."

"It's just that we haven't had any real contact with anyone else through the years ever since you…well, left." Tai finally said.

**

* * *

Authors Note: **Ok so this is a more update note that the first one up there. I know it's been over 2 months and that the story is not really going anywhere, but just give me break please guys? I've been having family, personal and work issues that are kind of hard to deal with right now and are kind of taking a lot of my free time.

I do apologize to everyone who's been following this story and is thinking that is not good enough or that it's losing its touch. I _know_ it is. That's why I'll try to work my hardest into making next chapter more interesting and things to actually fall into place so that I can continue with the story. So just bare with me a little.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless, and hope that you guys are going to be here when the next chapter is uploaded.


	7. All I Have in Life

**The Ground Below Her**

**7. All I Have in Life**

Sora blinked twice. She opened her mouth to say something, but not a sound came out. She shut her mouth, but a few minutes later opened it again.

"Oh come on, don't stare at me like that." Joe said, looking down at her. "It's making my feel like a freak or something."

Sora blinked, snapping out of her confusion. "Well have you _looked_ in the mirror?" she asked, pointing toward his head. "I mean I never really thought you of all people would get one of those."

Joe laughed, running a hand through his now red hair. "Well at first I was like, 'Ok this is totally crazy', but eventually I kind of grew into it, you know? Now I kind of wouldn't feel like myself if I ever cut it." He grinned at the last part.

Sora cracked a smile of her own. "I see. But I mean why? I thought you were a doctor?" she asked, still not getting over the whole idea of Joe, good ol' reliable Joe, would get a Mohawk and die his hair bright red. **(1)**

Joe sighed at that. "Well, I was about to finish my Junior year in college, when suddenly this guy walked by with the most neat appearance you could ever imagine, I mean you could even eat in his shoes, if you know what I mean," He looked over to Sora, who nodded. "And then I see this older hippie woman go up to him and hug him and in that moment I realized it was his mother. She was the most stereotypical type 80's wacko mother you could even imagine. She looked so proudly a on that I just stood there for a moment and asked myself: 'What the hell is an 80's hippie kind of mother doing with a son like that? I mean shouldn't she force her to be more like her or something?' But she just looked so genuinely happy that he seemed happy doing what he liked that I just had to stop for a moment and look down at my life." He took a deep breath and looked at the sealing. "That day I realized that my whole life I've been waiting for my dad's approval so bad that I went to such lengths of being the perfect, reliable, responsible son he wanted. I even enrolled in med's school when I'm scared of blood. Do you know how crazy that is?" he didn't let Sora answer. "So that night I called my dad, I told him that it was over, that I didn't need of his approval to be happy and that he could go suck up his idea of a son in his-" he stopped himself in time. "I enrolled in art school and become a well known artist around the world. Now my dad and I have the best relationship ever. We don't agree on absolutely anything, but these have the 2 most happy years of my life." **(2)**

Sora blinked. 'When did Joe get so talk-active?' "Wow." She said, genuinely surprised.

Joe grinned at her. "That's what everyone says." He said, looking at her. "But hey you have to stand up for your dreams or else you'll never be able to succeed in life. And I don't mean career wise."

"Well as long as you are happy." Sora said, letting her feet find the ground again. "Do you want anything? I'm leaving for the kitchen and I only plan on making one trip."

Joe smiled. "Nah, I'm fine. Hey when are the others getting here?"

"Well Mimi's at work and she usually doesn't come over till around 4, so it'll be a while till she gets here. Tai on the other hand, doesn't really have a schedule, so I don't know what to tell you." Sora explained, looking over at the wall clock.

"No I mean – wait did you just said Mimi? As in Mimi Tachikawa, Mimi?" Joe asked, pulling himself up from the couch.

"Yes," Sora said raising an eyebrow. "What other Mimi do you know?"

"Oh…" Joe said, running a hand over his hair. "No it's just that, I haven't seen her in a while and-"

"I know," Sora interrupted. "That' why I called you all here. I want to know more about this 'world' I suddenly appeared in and since Tai told me that you guys haven't really spoke in a while I took the liberty of fiddling out where you guys were-"

"It's not about that Sora," Joe interrupted her. "It' just that-"

_Ding-Dong_.

"Oh that must be one of the other guys." Sora beamed, taking her Chinese chopsticks off her hair and letting it fall to the middle of her back. She readjusted it quickly in a messy bun. "I can't wait to see the rest of you guys and catch up to what you guys are doing. Do you think everyone will come?" She called back as she walked towards the door.

"I hope so," Joe said. When he was sure she was in hearing distance he murmured. "Or else things wouldn't turn out to be as interesting."

Sora looked at her reflection quickly in the mirror checking for any flaws. She felt kind of guilty since vanity had never really been part of her character, but now she wanted to be no less than perfect to people she hadn't seen in…how long exactly? She didn't know for sure, since last she remembered, she saw Matt last week. When she heard the door bell ring again, she sighed pushing her thoughts out of her head.

"Welcome!" She greeted, putting on her best smile.

"Sora?"

"Matt?" Sora asked, being taken back by the blonde.

"It's T.K. actually," he said, taking a step forward and running a hand through his hair.

"T.K.? Little T.K.? Oh my, look at you!" Sora couldn't help but mutter under her breath. She just couldn't believe her eyes.

Before her, little T.K. had sure grown out. Even if when she had been taken back by Joe's red Mohawk, she was more taken back by T.K.'s long hair, which now fell on his shoulder, leader jacket with ripped jeans and I'm-such-a-bad-boy-smirk that she was sure it was his older brother. Things sure were weird in this time.

"And look at you." He smiled at down at her. "When my assistant told me that it had been Sora Takenouchi who had called, I almost called mental health on her since you've been…" he didn't finish. "Well the good news is that you are here now. Hey!"

Sora smiled awkwardly when he hugged her, spinning her around. "Yeah, hey to you too, but you don't seem nearly as surprise as I thought you would be. I mean, when Joe saw me–"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great. Hey be a doll and get me a beer while I go talk to Joe." He cut her off, waving the rest of her story and giving her, what he thought was his most charming smile. **(3)**

Sora's jaw hit the ground, literarily. "What–?" she was cut off by the door bell once again. "This better be good."

"Listen I don't care how much money you have, you just can't come to my office and demand–I'll call you later. I said I'll call you later. Dammit Janet!"

"Umm…hey?" Sora tried, looking sheepish.

"Sora…? As in Sora Takenouchi?"

"The one and only."

"Oh my god, Sora! It's really you!"

"Yeah…and you are…?"

"Do you seriously don't recognize me?" Sora looked up and down at him. Something about his red hair tingled in the back of her mind, but she just couldn't get a good hold of her memory. "Oh come _on_, it hasn't been that long."

"It's been 10 years," Sora said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Has it really? It doesn't feel like it."

"Izzy!" T.K. said from the end of the hall, where he had been standing. "Long time no see dude!"

"Takeru Takaishi." Izzy nodded, towards him. "Last time I heard you were engaged."

"Engaged?" Sora asked incredulously.

T.K. waved the comment off. "You should know better than to actually listen to rumors."

Izzy gave him a sly glance. "Yeah, but when it comes to be biggest playboy on this planet, you just never know what to expect."

T.K. grinned at that. "I'm not that bad."

"According to…?"

"Hey Sora, do you mind if I – Izzy, hey man!" Joe smiled, walking over to his long time friend and shaking his hand. "Long time no see, nice hair cut." He motioned to the now wild stylishly messy long hair style that Izzy worn.

"Right back at cha'" Izzy grinned back, motioning to his red Mohawk. "When did you get that?"

"About 3 years ago, it was considerably shorter last time I came to Tokyo."

"I just never thought you'd be the kind of guy who…" Izzy's and Joe's voices faded away as they walked towards the living room, obviously interested in catching up from old times.

"I can't believe you actually got a hold of Izzy." T.K. commented, looking over his shoulder.

Sora glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

T.K. grinned back at her. "Nothing." He turned around. "Oh I'm still waiting on that beer babe."

* * *

"So you are an actor? How did that even happen?" Sora asked, taking a sip of her soda and looking over at Izzy who had been smiling the whole time, telling Sora about his new movie he had been filming in Tokyo.

"Well do you remember that play I did in high school about that guy who-"

"Let me stop you right there Izzy," Sora interrupted quickly, holding her right hand up. "I had the same problem with Joe here, and I just don't want to explain myself again, so T.K. listen up."

T.K. looked over at Sora, from the T.V. show he'd been laughing about.

"I might not be the same Sora you knew. I mean I know I look like her and have a lot of the same connections like you guys and went to the same high school and blah, blah, blah, but, I don't know a few things that you do, like what the hell is the Digiworld and Biyomon? And all that crap about my mother?" Sora said in a hard tone, setting the glass on the table. "So there are many things that I might not know about you, so don't ask me about it."

Izzy blinked, taken back by her hard tone. Things had definitely changed over the years. He smiled in spite of her attitude. "Oh well, long story short, I just made this play in high school. Inspired by my mother off course, and I just realized how good it felt to actually go out and talk in front of people. I decided I wanted to pursue a career with those concepts and here I am." He smiled slapping his chest. "3 times Oscar awards winner."

Sora smiled at his comment. She knew that he wasn't saying so to brag about it, but she just couldn't help laugh at his ego. She was just glad that he had somehow had actually stayed to true to his old personality, unlike the others. "So what is the movie about?" she asked. She stopped short hearing the front door open. "Great! The others are here, finally!"

"Others?" Joe asked, leaning on his knees and standing up. "What others?"

Sora ignored the questions and quickly walked over to the door with Joe at her feet. "Tai! Welcome back! You wouldn't guess who I invited over…"

"I don't care if it's not possible just make it happen!" Tai screamed into his cell phone, taking off his jacket. "But I thought we agreed that I'd be her legal guardian…I know that, but she has nobody to take care of her. No family. I'm her closest friend and let's face it, money is no problem to me…we'll she's 17." Tai looked over at Sora to confirm this. She nodded; understand the questioning look he was giving her. "It's not like she's going to burn herself with the stove or choke on a button or something she can take care of herself…off course she'll go to school, we just haven't talked about which one yet…Hibiki, let's just move on the case okay? I have the biggest headache ever and I have a pile of folders to read for tomorrow. I don't have time for your complaining right now. If we have to go in front of a court we'll do it. Just get me the papers…I'll talk to you another time." And with that he hung up the phone throwing it into his pocket, running his hand over his hair.

"You ok?" Sora asked, not really sure of what to say in this case. He was crealy mad about something and she didn't want to make it worse.

Tai grinned at her, betrayed by his eyes. "Yeah don't worry about it. My lawyer – holy crap, Joe!" Tai interrupted himself, seeing the older man in front of him for the first time. "What are you doing here man? I thought you were in Africa or something like that."

Joe grinned at his friend surprise, shaking his head. "I was, but this little missy here called asked me to meet her here. Since we haven't seen her in a while I thought I'd put my world saving plans on hold for now and come visit. Good thing I did too, Izzy and T.K. are here too."

Tai blinked his smiled lessening considerably. "Izzy and T.K.? When did they get here? Last I hear Izzy was filming a movie and T.K. was on tour." He pushed the older guy aside, heading for the living room.

"Well I don't know about T.K. but Izzy's movie was here in Tokyo." Joe answered, following Tia, but giving Sora a _'What the hell is going on?'_ look.

"Taichi Kamiya. Long time no see man! What's shaking?" T.K. said, pointing with his beer. He didn't even bother to stand up with from the chair he was sitting in.

Izzy did stand up, giving Tai a hug. "Hey man. What's going on?"

Tai looked from T.K. to Izzy to Joe to Sora. He couldn't believe this. His friends from over 10 years ago which he hadn't really had any contact over the years were sitting in his living room eating the last of his food as if everything was rose colored **(4)**. "Sora," Tai finally turned to the only girl in the room. "How…how did you even manage to get in touch with these guys?"

Sora smiled apologetically. "Well let's just say that while you guys were out I just did my homework."

"But-" Tai tried, getting frustrated at her lack of elaboration.

"Don't question her methods Tai," Izzy said, sitting back on the couch. "Just roll with it."

Tai frowned; ready to make another question but the sound of the door opening made him shut his mouth close. "That must be Mimi." He said, backing towards the door. "Ok guys, you stay here and I'll make sure that Mimi doesn't-"

"That Mimi doesn't what?" Mimi asked, taking off her coat and laying it on a chair near her. She was about to say something when her mouth literarily reached the floor.

"Hey, Meems." Tai nervously said, backing away from her and standing behind a chair. "How was your day?"

"Taichi! What are these people doing here?" She asked, pointing towards her guest but looking furiously at Tai. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Mimi I can explain." Tai tried, backing further away from her. He raised his hands in front of him to protect himself from her furry.

"Sora invited us over." T.K. explained, taking a sip from his beer and looking over at her up and down. "Damn, Mimi, even as a lawyer you haven't lost the sense of fashion. I say that short skirt of yours has sure making it hard for me to keep a straight face."

Mimi glared at him, but didn't say anything about it. "Sora, what the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean? Don't you see? I've gather all of our friends, well except for Matt and Kari who haven't gotten here yet."

"What?" Tai asked, looking over at Sora, to make sure he heard the name right.

Mimi tensed. "Sora, you better not tell me that-"

"Sorry I'm late guys, but Tokyo's traffic has gotten worse since I last visited. The door was open so I allowed myself in. I hope you don't mind."

"Matt." Mimi breathed out, turning herself to look into his face.

"Hey Meems. Long time no see."

**

* * *

Author's Note: **Sorry for the delayed update. Also I know that the story is not really getting anywhere for now, but I just figure that I'd give it more of a suspense kind of thing for the moment. I'll give me more ideas for next chapter, and the more questions I have the more inspired I get the sooner the updates will happen.

**(1)** People don't forget the story is happening 10 years in a parallel future. I just wanted to make some of the characters OC, just like Joe getting a red Mohawk or Mimi in law school instead of fashion or something along the lines of entertainment.  
**(2)** I'm sorry for Joe's rambling there.  
**(3) **I need T.K. to be a jerk for now. T.K. fans, don't hate me. Pretty please?  
**(4)** It's just this saying in Spanish that goes "Como si todo fuera color de rosa." That translates into "As if everything was rose colored." It's used when people are referring to things that are bad and say "If just things were rose colored (perfect)."

Vampire Academy Books by Richelle Mead my own personal addiction at the moment. 65 more days till Spirit Bound.


	8. Why Should I Listen to Explanations?

**The Ground Below Her**

** 8. Why Should I Listen to Explanations?**

"Sorry I'm late guys, but Tokyo's traffic has gotten worse since I last visited. The door was open so I allowed myself in. I hope you don't mind."

"Matt." Mimi breathed out, turning herself to look into his face.

"Hey Meems. Long time no see." Matt said, grinning down at her.

"Matt!" Sora yelled, getting up from the spot on the couch and running over to him giving him a big hug. "Hey!"

Matt laughed, hugging her back and spinning her around once. "Hey kiddo! You have no idea how surprise I was when Michelle told me it was you who was calling. I swear I was about to-"

"Matt," Mimi interrupted, looking at him sternly. "What are you doing here?"

Matt looked up from where had been staring down at Sora, and looked over at the older girl, confused. "What do you mean 'What am I doing here'? I thought this was a gathering." He looked around, making sure that he wasn't mistaken.

"Hey brother." T.K. lifted his beer, nodding toward his older brother. "Glad you could make it."

"Yeah, long time no see Matt. Where the hell have you been man?" Joe asked, looking at the blonde curiously.

Matt just grinned apologetically, running a hand through his hair. "Well Michelle has been busy with her record and I've been sort of trying to her out, so we've been pretty hectic coming in and out of the studio, to interview with this shit ass program presenters who can't come up with original questions to save their lives, and touring around. I'm pretty surprised you didn't know that? I mean it's been over the news. Which reminds me…little brother what happened to your engagement?"

T.K. lifted his arms over his head. "What is with everyone thinking I'm engaged? I mean you should know better not to trust everything you hear on those gossip columns."

"Seriously, when did you become the biggest playboy on earth?" Matt asked, sitting down on a chair. "I thought that was _my_ job."

"Sorry brother, but if you snooze you lose."

Matt rolled his eyes.

"Ok, can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? I mean what are you guys doing here?" Mimi yelled, losing her patients. "Am I missing something?"

"You've been missing me for over a decade." T.K. winked.

Mimi just glared in return.

"Mimi," Sora stepped up, from where she had been leaning against the wall. "I called these guys to catch up. I mean last time we talked about it, you said you hadn't talked to either of them in a while and I just assumed that calling them over wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

Mimi gave her a sidelong glance. "And who gave you the permission to doing such thing? Last time I heard you were still underage."

"And last time I checked, I had no family left to take care of me." Sora countered back.

"That doesn't mean you can call some strangers over without our permission! God, do you know how complicated it would have been to explain if something had happened to you?"

"Mimi what the hell is going on with you?" Sora asked, annoyed at the drama. "I thought you of all people would be happy to see these guys. I mean, you said you hadn't gotten together since 10 years ago!"

"That doesn't mean you have to call them out of the blue and call them over to my house? Do you have no sense of respect for other people's lives?"

Sora's anger flared up. "What is with this soup opera drama shit? I haven't messed up one bit into your so called life. I haven't called your mother or your boyfriend or whomever to say shit about you. All I did was call some friends over to get together."

"And just because–"

"Guys!" Matt yelled over Sora's and Mimi's screams. It was amazing how much things had changed over the years. Those girls use to be best friends. "I don't want to be cause of a fight. Mimi if you are not comfortable of me being here I can just leave and everything will be ok. Sor, give me your number and I'll catch up with you later."

"Matt, seriously you don't have to leave just because drama queen here wants you to. _I_ invited you over, and _I_ should be the one that tells you when you should leave." Sora glared over at Mimi. "Why don't you just sit down over here and tell us what you've been up to."

"Sora I seriously don't think this is a good idea." Matt said, letting himself be dragged over to the couch, next to where Joe was sitting.

"Nonsense." Sora countered back, smiling sweetly. "For someone who is fully grown up, you still have a few things you have to grow up on Mimi."

Mimi just glared at her, turning on her heels and walked over to the kitchen, not even sparing a second glance to where her guests were sitting.

Tai, who had been watching everything from his place behind the couch, sighed, giving an apologetic glance over at Matt and following Mimi to the kitchen. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Who does she think she is exactly? I mean I know that we used to be best friends in the past, but it just seems like…like…I don't she just acts like–"

"A completely different person." Tai finished up for her.

It was true. Sora was not acting like her usual cheerful self. It was…well, weird. Sure, it could always be because she was on a strange "new world" where everyone she knew is older than her and her family is no longer around and everything is different in it's sort of way, but that didn't really explain the fact that she was acting so selfishly. It was just not like her. And although they couldn't blame her for acting as if they were her enemies (it's not like she actually knew any of them) she didn't have to be so self-centered when it came to decisions. She was not whom they though she was. She said so herself. She was not the same person they though she was. Not only her memories were messed up, but her personality was too.

"Exactly." Mimi agreed, leaning against the counter.

"We just have to give her time Mimi." Tai said gently. "She's still not used to the changes she went through. This is a different time from the one she comes from. She doesn't really know any of us and she's just acting out on her way because she's scared to accept the truth about life now."

"What are you? A specialist in Psychology now?" Mimi asked, obviously annoyed.

"No." Tai answered. "I just know how she thinks."

Mimi glared at him. "How can you be so sure? Didn't you just said so yourself? She's–"

"I know." Tai quickly interrupted. "But she just reminds me so much of our Sora. The one who used to be cheerful and loving and so selfless and who always tried to find the best in people, even the ones who clearly didn't deserve a second chance. She was so–"

"Perfect?" Mimi asked, not wanting to hear Tai say it himself. "You still like her don't you?"

"Mimi she's 17!"

"So?" Mimi asked, looking at Tai square in the eye. "Does it really make a difference? I mean she was older than you before."

"Only by a few months. We were still kind of the same age. Besides that was so long ago. It doesn't really matter anymore. I moved on." Tai whispered softly, averting his eyes.

"Right." Mimi crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! You have no right to criticize me." Tai narrowed his eyes at her. "What was your deal with whole Matt thing?"

Now it was Mimi's turn to look outraged. "That's none of anyone's damn business. I'm dealing with it right now, so back off."

"Right just like you dealt with it when you came in? By making a scene and letting everyone know that you–"

"SHUT UP!" Mimi yelled, losing it. "You of all people should know why I'm so angry! Why I just can't stand to look at that guy! Why I haven't been able to–"

"Mimi?"

Both Tai and Mimi looked to their right, at the kitchens door way.

"I'm sorry." Matt said hastily. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I was kind of hoping that we could talk."

Mimi narrowed her eyes at him. "About what exactly?"

"Well it's been a while since I've last seen you and so…" Matt said, scratching the back of his neck with his hand. "Well I was kinda hoping we could catch up, you know since, you haven't really kept in touch."

"None of us have." Mimi pointed out.

"Well yeah…" Matt said, looking over at her.

Heavy silence followed.

"So I think I'll go check on everyone–"

"Don't you dare leave!" Mimi warned, never taking her eyes off Matt.

Matt looked around uncomfortably, and Tai wanted the earth to swallow him.

"Hey guys! I was wondering if – is everything ok?" Sora looked around the kitchen watching as everyone was in some kind of staring contest.

"Everything's fine." Mimi quickly recovered herself.

"No it's not–" Matt glared at her.

"Sora did you need anything?" Tai asked, moving towards the younger girl.

"Well I was just wondering if you had more soda, since T.K. kind of drank all the beer and we are out of tea."

"Uh, I think there's more in the fridge…no, wait we have to get out to get more." Tai looked over his shoulder, over at Sora. "Why do we ask for it to be delivered? Come Sora, there's a phone in the living room."

"But why can't we just use the one here?"

"Because that one's broken." Tai took Sora by her elbow leading her away. "We'll use the one in the living room."

"But we need the number to the store!" Sora looked over her shoulder, towards the magnets in the fridge.

"Don't worry I know the number." Tai reassured her, leading her with him. "If that doesn't work we'll just dial randomly."

"But–"

"Stop complaining!"

Matt sweat dropped as he watched Tai lead Sora away from the kitchen. Not it was his chance. He looked back over to where Mimi was standing, this time she averted her eyes. _'Typical.'_ He thought, sighing.

"Mimi we are never going to get past this unless we speak to one another." Matt stepped forward, trying to get her attention back to him.

"No we don't." Mimi crossed her arms over her chest and glaring back at him. "And 'we' sounds like a lot of people. I'm completely over everything."

"Never took you for a liar." Matt counters back.

"And I never took you for a nagging idiot." Mimi glared.

Matt sighed in frustration. "What do you want me to do? Huh? Do want me to stand up in my hands and pull my pants down in a super market? Fine I'll do it, so long as you _speak_ and _listen_ to me."

"Matt," Mimi sighed, losing her patients. "What happened happen, there's nothing you can do or say that is going to take it back. Not even you can change the past. You just have to learn how to live with it and make the best out of your future."

"But–"

"Just get over it and move on. I have. And you should to, before you get completely obsessed over it and nag the rest of your life about something that wasn't in your control."

"Mimi I–"

"No I don't want to hear it." Mimi interrupted, not wanting to hear what he wanted to say. She'd heard everything and it was just enough. She walked over to the kitchen door, looking over her shoulder just as she was about to step up. "Next time you see Kathy, tell her hi for me."

Matt closed his eyes longer than a standard blink, trying to gather his thoughts for something to say, but when he thought of something and opened his mouth to voice it, he cut himself off as he was alone again in the kitchen. He sighed, running his fingers over his hair. "Shit!" he swore, leaning against the counter. It would still be a few minutes before he could even get back to the party.

* * *

Mimi entered the living room again, watching as Sora rolled her eyes over at Tai who, as he promised, was randomly dialing for the stores number. She smiled at that.

"If you need any help I have the number in my cell phone." She walked over, taking the phone from Tai. "While I'm at it, why don't you tell Sora her surprise?"

"Surprise?" Sora asked, looking excitedly over at Tai. "The good kind?"

"Well…" Tai started scratching the back of his head. "We were just thinking. Since you didn't get to finish High School Mimi and I thought that I would be wise for you to get back to school, to you know, and integrate yourself back in society and stuff."

Sora's face dropped. "School?"

"Yeah," Tai's face light up. "We'll be moving."

"Moving? Where?"

"France."

"France?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** I wanted to apologize for my lack of devotion to this story in particular since I've been devoting most of my time into writing the Naruto fic and fiction fic Not Gonna Get Us in fiction press. To anyone who wants to check it out, I'm under the same name in or /u/689215/. I know just how many people are following this story and I feel ashamed of my lack of devotion, so I got off my ass and actually finished this so called chapter.

I promise that things will get better from now on, since I'm kind of over the whole introduction thing. And jus to warn people, this stories main theme is about bonds and how people can influence other people over the years. I don't think I'm planning on adding mayor battles or super Digimon things to this. I'm sorry for anyone who's been expecting that.

Spirit Bound finally released! I just can't wait for my copy to get here!


	9. Don't Hide Your Eyes From Me

**The Ground Below Her**

** 9. Don't Hide Your Eyes From Me**

Sora looked out her new bedroom window. She couldn't deny that she was Ajaccio, Capital of Corcega was indeed as beautiful as Tai had sworn it would be. The houses had the same exquisite Baroque touch most of the buildings in France did. With the elaborated walls and windows, pastel colors that differ from white to pastel pink and orange, and the small houses at the edge of the ocean. The seas were green blue with white and everywhere she laid eyes on, there was at least one boat on sail. They too differ from Hollywood yachts with several floor and tinted windows, to small rowing boats. It was just so different from what she was used to.

Instead of high sky high buildings there were small 3 story houses with gardens in which people grow flowers and fruits. Instead of city noises and car horns, she got the sound of the ocean and the breeze that swept the palm leave away. Instead of the permanent pollution smell that any big city brought to her noise, there was the mixed smell of salt, fish and French bread. Instead of Japanese she heard French. Instead of being in Japan, her home town Japan, she was in Corcega, an island in the Mediterranean Sea that now belongs to the French, but once belonged to Italy. Tai had told her that this was where Napoleon Bonaparte had been born.

It was beautiful, with its sand white beaches, and its calm air, exquisite architecture. It was beautiful. She couldn't deny that. But it was not her Tokyo. It was not the place she had been born in. It was not the place she had spent all her childhood and most of her teenage hood. It was nothing like it, actually. And although in Sora's eyes she was in one of the most beautiful and calm place in the world, she knew, the minute she stepped out from the plane that she would never be able to find herself absolutely comfortable and happy in this place. It was not her Tokyo. It was not Japan.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

Tai popped his head inside. "Hey kiddo. We've been looking out for you."

Sora gave him a look. "Where?"

"Downstairs, the hall, I even tried the beach but didn't really found you there. I thought you'd be the first one to try it out."

"What the beach?" Sora leaned against the window stool. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a very familiar face. "Is that Mimi?"

"Yeah," Tai scratched the back of his head and grinned. "You should've seen her when she found out the place I had chosen. She took her cloths in, like, two seconds and was out the door in less than one. I never knew she liked the ocean so much."

"More like the guy that's rubbing sun tan lotion on her." Sora muttered.

"What?" Tai asked, running toward the window and looking outside. He groaned. "And here I thought she had grown up."

Sora smiled at that. "What is she going to do for work though? Wasn't she, like, the supreme judge of Japan or something like that…?"

"Nothing so exciting." Tai turned around to lean against the window stool to. "She got transferred here. Now she'll be working in the Supreme Court of France."

"Oh." She squinted when Tai gave her a look. "What?"

"What was that 'oh' just now?"

"Nothing." _Glare._ "Fine it's just that, I…I just hate it that people go out of their ways to make such big change in their lives just because of me. Don't get me wrong," Sora quickly tried to explain when she saw Tai's mouth open in protest. "I love that you guys are making such a big deal about everything and that you are making the best you can to make me feel at home and go out of your way for me, but," turning around she rested her arms on the window and leaned forward, taking on the view. "I just wonder if it's all really worth it."

Tai mirrored her position. "You don't think it is?"

"It's all very beautiful. Ajaccio, all the things you got me, the house." Sora sighed. "But why couldn't we just stay in Tokyo? I mean I could've gotten a job and gone to the old school there. Sure, no one would know who I am or anything, but I'll feel less of a stranger there than I do here."

"Money is not the problem Sora, you should know that."

"I _do_ know."

"But…?"

"But…but…" How could Sora say it? How could she voice it without getting misunderstood? After everything Tai had done for her, could she really go ahead and say what her heart was screaming at her to do? Could she really be that heartless? Sighing she flashed him her most convincing smile. "Never mind. I'll learn to love it here."

Tai smiled at her. "Have you decided on a school yet? There are a few in Bastia, but Mimi told me that you wanted to stay locally?"

"Yeah, about that…I was wondering about just taking classes on the internet. I can't just join a school without knowing the language. I'll fail first day. For real." Standing up she walked over to her desk. "I found a few high school courses on the internet in Japan who don't need background information."

Tai flinched at that. That was right; she was a brand new face here. She had no school background, no grades, no nothing. It would make her enrolling in a school that much difficult.

"Are you sure?" Tai walked over her desk and took the pamphlets from her. "Have you–"

"Made a complete investigation on what they offer and need yes." Sora lifted one of the pamphlets. "Most of them just need me to take a few entry exams to test my Japanese and English, but this one, is the one I want to go to."

"Les Soldats? **(1)**" Tai raised an eyebrow. "But isn't that a French school?"

"It is, but look at the curriculum." Sora opened the pamphlet showing Tai what her 4 day's worth of investigation got her. "They have the most amazing electives and variation of classes of all the other schools. They even have secure entry to really prestigious colleges all over the world."

Tai didn't really seem convinced by these. "What happened to the Modern Language School you wanted to go to?"

"What?"

"You know," Tai looked down at her meaningfully. "That school you were obsessed about? In Australia? The one your mom wouldn't let you go to until you turned 17?"

"I was obsessed about a school in Australia?" Sora asked, as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. And, as far as she knew, it was.

Tai glared at her. "Come _on_? Seriously? We were back in sophomore year, and you wouldn't shut up about this school you had been obsessing about since you were 14. It had this huge campus near the beach, with all these–"

"Tai," Sora interrupted before he could say anything else. "You forget that I'm sort of not the same person you used to know. We don't know why, but my facts and the Sora you knew facts are kind of messed up. Besides, I hate hot weather."

"You do?"

Sora mentally kicked herself. She shouldn't have said that, they were living by the beach after all. "I mean, I love it here and everything, but once I'm off to college, I'll find a place up in the north or Deep South. Maybe near on a mountain where it snows a lot."

"But you've always wanted to live by the beach?"

"I did?" Now Sora was the one confused. "I don't mind the beach, but too many sand and sun are kinda–"

"Yeah." Tai interrupted, catching her drift. "Listen, I should probably get Mimi before she decides to try her charm on every French boy she can lay eyes on. Could you run to the store for me and get a few things?"

"I don't speak French." Sora quickly reminded him.

"I know but, you'll have to learn eventually, and they speak English here. With an accent, but it's understandable." He took a small list out of his pocket. "I'll give you another excuse to leave the house and go exploring around town."

Sora opened her mouth to protest on this idea. She had accepted the fact that she would live with them for a while before she found a job and earned enough money to return to Tokyo, but that didn't mean she was happy about leaving her 'secure place'. She had been more than comfortable about moping around the house, surfing the internet and watching T.V. It wasn't in her plan to actually leave the house unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Sora, you live here now," Tai interrupted her. "You'll have to leave and get to know town and make new friends. That's part of life. You can't continue to live on an island forever. You need people in your life."

Sora made a face at that. "Funny, because that was exactly my plan." She muttered.

Tai made a face to her. "The groceries store is only a couple away down the road. It's called Magasin Rouge." And with that he left the room.

Sora looked at the now crumpled piece of paper and sighed. He was right, she didn't live alone anymore.

* * *

Sora walked down the street glaring down at the list of groceries that Tai had given her. She couldn't understand why Tai himself or Mimi couldn't get this for her. They spoke the language, they knew Corcega better than she did and it wasn't like they were doing anything better with their time at the moment. She, on the other hand, was more than eager to get the school applications done so she could finally get an interview and start class. It was amazing how eager she was about getting on with school, considering how bored she was with her previous one. It wasn't that she was a bad student or that she had issues with her teachers or fellow classmates, it was more like the school was _too_ easy on her standards sometimes. The classes were hardly challenging, the teachers were all suck-ups and the things they were supposed to learn were ridiculously irrelevant.

That's had been one of the main reasons why she had chosen Les Soldats as her first and possibly only choice. They weren't just any school that taught you about math and science and philosophy. They were more like a big foster home that made your interest their top priority, where you could chose your classes depending on your tastes and where you were treated more like a human than just another number. That was the kind of school Sora had always wished she could go to. The only tricky part about the entry was that they didn't accept anyone. You had to be the best of the best, and since Sora didn't really have any academic records she could rely on, she had to make a huge impression on the interview they promised to let her know about. She hadn't lied in her application exactly, but she wasn't telling the absolute truth either. She needed to live up to the standards she had set up for herself.

When she reached the so called store, she looked up from the list she had been glaring at lost in her thoughts. She sighed, stepping inside the store and expecting everyone to turn around and point out that she was a foreigner, but only a passing couple even looked up when she entered, and that was because she was sort of in their way.

"_Accueille, comment peux-je vous aider?" _the guy behind the counter asked, smiling down at her. He had gray hair with a mustache, glasses and looked like he was halfway through his life, a few wrinkles around his eyes.

Sora blinked in confusion and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I don't speak French." She said in English.

The guy blinked a few times and Sora expected to be blown off but instead that earn her a small smile. "Ah, an American girl." A faint French accent was noticeable.

"Japanese actually."

"Really?" The old man leaned forward interest. "How interesting, we only get Americans and Chinese people over here. What brings you here, _mon chéri_?"

"Well I actually come on behalf of Taichi Kamiya? He told me to tell you that–"

"Ah," the old man interrupted. "_Monsieur _Kamiya. I haven't seen him since he saved my life in the Digiworld. Tell me, is he still dating _madame_ Tachikawa? Last I heard they were about to get married."

"What?" Sora quickly interrupted her search through the counter. "Tachikawa? As in Mimi Tachikawa?"

"_Oui,_ I haven't seen much of her either, but she seems like a lovely lady. A, _m'excuser_, how rude of me, my name is François Depaul. It's very nice to meet you…"

"Sora."

"Madame Sora."

"Not, please no titles, just 'Sora'."

"Very well Ciel **(2)**. Please, let me know if you need any assistance, any friend of _monsieur_ Kamiya is a friend of François." He said smiling.

Sora smiled and continue with her shopping but had a very faint feeling that someone was watching her from afar. Looking up she found herself face to face with a man that was looked very familiar, although she couldn't quite point out what it was about him. He looked away as soon as she looked back at him. Sora just shrugged off the feeling that there was something very wrong with the way he was looking at her, like he knew her from somewhere. Getting more nervous by the second she pay for the things, thanked François and left the store, wanting to put miles between them.

**

* * *

Author's Note: **Sorry for the lazy updates, but I've been so caught up with manga reading and anime watching lately. But yeah, I know that I don't really have any excuses. Hoped you like the chapter and I'll update as soon as my inspiration lets me.

**(1) Les Soldats: **it's French for The Soldiers. It's not a real school as far as I know; it's just something I made up for this story.  
**(2) Ciel: **Sora's name in Japanese means Sky, so I decided that François would call her Ciel which means sky in French.


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